New Zealand Tax System Needs Overhaul: Expert

Natalia Albert argues that the current tax system in New Zealand is broken and needs to be changed. She points out that the country has one of the simplest tax systems in the developed world, but it's not effective in addressing the issues at hand.

The current system taxes income and consumption, but hardly touches on the accumulation and holding of assets. This means that wealthy individuals can avoid paying their fair share of taxes by investing in assets that produce little or no income. Albert notes that the wealthiest households pay a lower effective tax rate than middle-income earners, which is a problem.

Albert suggests introducing a land tax, higher income tax and corporate tax rates for large companies, and reducing the number of things the state should do. She believes this would be more effective in managing inflation and ensuring fairness in the tax system.