Who actually pays tax in NZ

The Taxpayers’ Union has released a report showing who pays tax in NZ. The findings include:

• The top 20 percent pay nearly two-thirds of all personal income tax
• The top 10 percent pay 45%, which is more than the bottom 80 percent combined
• The top 1 percent pay 14%, which is more than the entire bottom half of taxpayers
• 46,939 taxpayers pay more income tax than 2.35 million people combined
• The top quintile of income earners pay 35% of GST and the bottom quintile 10%
• The top decile of income earners pay more GST than the bottom 30% of income earners
• The bottom decile pay an average 10.4% tax rate and the top decile an average 29.6% tax rate
• The top decile pays 3,814 times more tax than the bottom decile
• The top 1% of earners pay an average of $177k in tax while the bottom 50% pay an average of $2,298.

We already have a highly progressive tax system. Those who claim it isn’t are ignoring the facts.