This paper examines the evolution of the New Zealand tax system from 1845 to 1876. The key to this period is the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 (UK), which was devised by the Governor, Sir George Grey, and which divided the Colony into six provinces. There were hardly any roads, so allowing...

This article examines the law governing the tax consequences of withdrawals of trading stock, and the difference in approach between the House of Lords and the Hong Kong Court of First Instance. The author proposes a middle ground, according to which a trader who takes an item of trading stock...

According to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, the aim of the tax avoidance scheme in Cullen Group Ltd v Commissioner of Inland Revenue [2019] NZHC 404 was to reduce the taxpayer company's liability to tax by $51.5 million. She assessed it to tax on that basis; and Palmer J, in the High Court...

New Zealand currently charges some classes of capital gains to income tax, but there is no tax on capital gains as such. The Tax Working Group recently established by the government has however recommended that there should be such a tax. That is, it has recommended that New Zealand should, like...

The World Health Organisation recently recommended that governments should impose a tax on sugary drinks as a means of combating the obesity epidemic. This article examines the merits of this proposal and also suggests how, if such a tax were to be introduced, it might work. The article...

For the first five years of the colonial period, from 1840 to 1845, the New Zealand government was insolvent, spiraling deeper and deeper into debt and failing to pay salaries and other bills. It conscientiously adopted the revenue-raising methods proposed by London (mainly land sales and...

The New Zealand tax system is so structured as to allow the country to be used as a tax haven. Specifically, it allows non-residents to use trusts established in New Zealand to avoid the tax they would otherwise have to pay in their home country. This article explains how this works, and asks...