New Zealand’s millionaires pay lower tax rates than cashiers – it’s time to fix the system

Dunedin, New Zealand. The country’s wealthiest individuals generate the bulk of their income from capital gains – money made from selling assets – and that is barely taxed. Photograph: vale_t/Getty Images/iStockphoto

It was a conclusion that many had suspected but until now couldn’t prove: New Zealand’s multimillionaires, according to a bombshell Inland Revenue report released this week, pay a lower rate of tax than supermarket cashiers.

The report shows that New Zealand’s 311 wealthiest families pay just 8.9% of their income in tax – less than the rate paid by a minimum wage worker (10.5%) and less than half the rate paid by the average Kiwi (19.7%).