New Zealand
| Category | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Overall Rank | 3 | 81.34 |
| Corporate Taxes | 28 | 49.75 |
| Individual Taxes | 6 | 83.07 |
| Consumption Taxes | 6 | 90.42 |
| Property Taxes | 2 | 87.42 |
| Crossborder Taxes | 22 | 73.66 |
New Zealand ranks 3rd overall on the 2021 International Tax Competitiveness Index, the same as in 2020.
Strengths
- New Zealand allows corporate losses to be carried forward indefinitely and has introduced a temporary one-year carryback provision, allowing businesses to be taxed on their average profitability.
- The VAT of 15 percent applies to nearly the entire potential consumption tax base.
- New Zealand property taxes apply just to the value of land rather than real estate or other improvements to the land.
Weaknesses
- New Zealand has an above-average corporate tax rate of 28 percent (the OECD average is 22.9 percent) and poor cost recovery provisions for business investments.
- New Zealand has a narrow tax treaty network, with 40 countries.
- The cost of inventory can be accounted for using First-In-First-Out method or the average cost method (Last-In-First-Out is not permitted).
Learn more about the tax system in New Zealand