Calls to increase the taxation of the wealthy have resurfaced in New Zealand after a report by the country’s tax department found that the wealthiest Kiwis paid less effective tax than most others.
Inland Revenue (IRD) conducted a two-year investigation into how much tax the wealthy people in New Zealand pay based on the full income information of the 311 wealthiest individuals in the country.
It found that, when including personal, company, and trustee taxes, the wealthy pay around 8.9 percent of their economic income in tax.
Factoring in GST (15 percent), the percent of tax paid rises to 9.5 percent, which is still less than the lowest statutory tax bracket of 10.5 percent for those earning under $14,000 (US$8,600)….