Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) welcomes Inland Revenue’s Long-term Insights Briefing (LTIB) Stable bases, flexible rates, noting its value in testing the durability of New Zealand’s tax system under long-term fiscal pressures.

CA ANZ supports retaining the dual income tax and GST bases as resilient and efficient but stresses that tax policy must be integrated with broader fiscal planning, particularly around superannuation, health and demographic change. 

The submission highlights New Zealand’s persistent underinvestment in productive assets and urges settings that encourage reinvestment. It considers a capital gains tax could improve fairness and rebalance investment away from housing, provided design is simple, fair and politically sustainable. 

CA ANZ rejects adopting a Nordic-style dual income tax, citing complexity, but suggests targeted taxes on economic rents may have merit. While increases to GST or selective new bases like payroll taxes are possible, reforms must remain equitable, efficient and publicly acceptable.