20 percent of NZers own 70 percent of country's wealth

Veronica from Levin

The top twenty percent of New Zealanders now own seventy percent of the country's wealth.

While the country debates the merits of a capital gains tax (CGT), Statistics New Zealand said "rising property values" between 2015 and 2018 was the main reason for a big increase in the amount of wealth owned by the top twenty percent.

In 2015 the top ten percent owned sixty percent of the county's wealth.

In contrast in 2015 the poorest 40 percent held just 3 percent of total wealth and three years later the only increase for this group was in how much more debt they had accumulated.

Independent economist Shamubeel Eaqub was quoted saying the figures were further confirmation of the country's growing class divide.

"Every time we see a new statistic on inequality, whether it's in terms of income, opportunities or wealth, it shows very clearly that New Zealand is being ripped apart by our class system."

Tax Justice Aotearoa New Zealand - a group that believes a capital gains tax should be introduced to reduce inequality and poverty - has organised an online petition in favour of a capital gains tax [www.change.org....

The petition was started by Tax Justice Aotearoa New Zealand in advance of the Government's intention to release a response to the recommendations of a tax Working Group this month.

The advisory tax group, formed in 2017 to investigate ways of reforming taxation, has signalled a strong preference towards the introduction of a capital gains tax on investment property, intangible property and business assets.

Iwi want exemptions based on equity because tax has already been paid on treaty settlements and land returned under settlement used to buy back more culturally valuable ancestral lands, or within iwi, should not be taxed.

[sources:
1 www.stats.govt.nz...
2 www.radionz.co.nz...
3 en.wikipedia.org...
4 www.radionz.co.nz...