After a severe and protracted economic crisis in the late 1970s and early 1980s, New Zealand radically reformed its tax and banking systems, while also reducing regulation and protectionism, and liberalizing free trade. The results are impressive; the Heritage Foundation’s 2010 survey ranked New Zealand fourth in the world for economic freedom.The New Zealand government also had a tax surplus from 1994 to 2008.
New Zealand does not have capital gains or inheritance taxes. Interest and dividends are taxed as regular income. For individuals, very few expenses are deductible. For example, you cannot deduct mortgage interest or capital losses. The income tax form is short in comparison to the equivalent forms in the United States; for 2010 it consists of forty one “lines.” Property taxes (called “rates”) are low, and apply only to land, not to improvements or other forms of business property. Local city councils collect and spend rates.