News

01 | Excise Tax (“Sin Tax”)

Excise tax is a tax put on anything the government of the day considers sinful. Classic examples are alcohol and tobacco. Initially, the money is spent on funding healthcare for people who overindulge in these sinful delights, but governments inevitably succumb to their own sinful temptations and raise the taxes beyond the break-even level to get more of that sweet, sweet revenue.

02 | Inheritance Tax

If you thought Great Uncle Bertie’s death was sad, imagine if the government had taken a big chunk of his assets as soon as he flatlined. Inheritance taxes encourage people to go out in a blaze of glory, spending up large on whiskey and hookers, and leaving nothing behind for their children. Because what’s the point when half the money in their will would go to the government? Thankfully, unlike much of Europe, New Zealand has no inheritance tax.

03 | Import Tarriffs

Import tariffs are a tax on an imported good, designed to raise the price of the imported item, thus making it less able to compete with local products that don’t have to pay the tariff. This in turn protects inefficient local dinosaurs from having to adapt and compete in the 21st century. Thanks to NZ’s bizarre list of tariffs, we pay 26.5% more for imported shoes, among many other products.

04 | Envy tax

An envy tax is a special high rate of income tax that only applies to people earning over a certain threshold. NZ had one for a while, but it was recently abolished. The Beatles wrote the song “Taxman” to protest against the 95% “supertax” on their earnings above a certain level. Envy taxes tend to drive people to flee their home country and become tax exiles, as George Harrison and Ringo Starr did in the 1970s.

05 | Cheeky indirect taxes

You know the type. Semi-essential goods and services, like passports and car registration. The government has a monopoly on providing these things – you can’t get them anywhere else – so they hike their prices and pocket the spare change.