Responding to Nicola Willis’s comments that National
will address bracket creep, the Taxpayers’ Union says the
30 percent income tax threshold should already be $56,801.95
and the 33 percent threshold $82,920.23.
The figures
come from the our briefing paper The
Inflation Tax, which shows where income tax
thresholds would sit today if they had kept pace with
inflation since they were last adjusted on 31 July
2024.
The current brackets compared with
inflation-indexed brackets are:
Taxpayers’
Union spokesman Austin Ellingham-Banks said:
“Nicola
Willis says National wants to tackle bracket creep. These
figures show what that should look like.”
“Tax
brackets should not quietly become tax rises just because
prices and wages go up. If National is serious about ending
bracket creep, thresholds need to move automatically with
inflation rather than waiting for politicians to hand
taxpayers some of their own money back.”
“For
someone on the median salary of $73,788, failing to index
the brackets is already costing $480.14 a year. That bill
will keep growing for as long as governments leave the
thresholds frozen.”
The Inflation Tax briefing
paper can be found at: www.taxpayers.org.nz/inflation_tax_2026.
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Notes:
The
Taxpayers’ Union calculated the thresholds by adjusting
the brackets introduced on 31 July 2024 for CPI inflation
through to the June 2026 quarter.
The New Zealand
Taxpayers’ Union is an independent and
membership-driven activist group, dedicated to being the
voice for Kiwi taxpayers in the corridors of power. Its
mission, lower taxes, less waste, more
accountability, is supported by 200,000 subscribed
members and
supporters.
