Calls for increased taxation of wealthy individuals have resurfaced in New Zealand following a two-year investigation by the country’s tax department, which found that the wealthiest Kiwis pay a lower effective tax rate than most others. The research found that when considering personal, company, and trustee taxes, the wealthy only pay around 8.9 percent of their economic income in tax, rising to 9.5 percent when factoring in GST. This is still lower than the lowest statutory tax bracket of 10.5 percent for those earning less than US$8,600 annually. High-wealth individuals primarily generate their income from capital gains, which is not subject to a capital gains tax in New Zealand. The research aims to provide solid evidence to inform tax policy discussions in the future. However, a separate report by Sapere Research Group recently commissioned by tax consultancy firm OliverShaw suggests that high-income individuals are paying their fair share of tax in the country, with 68.5 percent of total income tax revenue raised by the government in the 2021 financial year paid by the top 21 percent earners. The discussion around a potential capital gains tax has political implications, with the Green party calling for the tax system to be made fairer and the National and ACT parties opposing such a tax.