Make the wealthiest pay their fair share

What’s the problem?

Hardworking people support our schools, hospitals and transport networks by paying taxes on every dollar we earn through our wages and salaries. The super rich also benefit from these services, but get most of their income from untaxed capital gains and low-taxed returns on wealth, so aren’t contributing their fair share. Our system is designed to tax work more than wealth, so workers are carrying more of the load than the wealthiest in New Zealand.

IRD research from 2023 showed that the 311 wealthiest families in New Zealand essentially pay less than half the tax rate (9%) of a middle-income working person (20%). This is because they make money from owning and selling assets (e.g. shares or investment properties) that aren’t taxed in the way we tax income from work.

This isn’t fair and contributes to increasing inequality. The wealthiest are using their untaxed gains to claim more and more of our wealth, while working people’s wages aren’t keeping up, living costs keep rising and increasingly working people are locked out of owning their own home. It’s time we shared the load and our wealth better to tackle inequality and fund better lives for all.

What are the solutions?

1. Tax wealth, not work through taxes on capital gains, wealth, trusts and transfers of wealth (such as inheritance/gifts)
2. Reverse billion-dollar tax cuts for landlords
3. Make income tax fairer by:
   a. removing tax on the first $5000 earned
   b. changing tax brackets to more accurately reflect ability to pay
   c. increasing the tax rate paid by the highest income earners
4. Address the impact of GST on the least well-off by lowering the GST rate or providing GST refunds for people on low incomes.