Tax NZ

Tax revenue of the core Crown on an accrual basis, from 1994. Treasury notes that pre-1994 tax receipts are on a cash basis with different reporting-entity coverage, so they are published separately.

Tax actually received in cash each year, from 1972. Before 1994 these are cash receipts; from 1994 Treasury takes them from the core Crown net cash flow statement. For tax measured on an accrual basis (when it is earned rather than received), see tax.

Not strictly comparable with the pre-1994 cash "tax receipts" series (different basis and coverage). Total tax only; tax by type (income tax, GST, company tax) needs a separate source.

Dividing a national total by population puts it on a human scale. Spending per person is an average across the country; the amount spent on each person varies with their circumstances.

Read the period beside each number before comparing it with another figure. A monthly observation, a quarterly result and a financial year cover different spans of time. The latest release can also revise earlier observations. The chart and downloads keep the published periods so you can check which figures are being compared. A change in tax describes what happened during that period; it does not by itself explain why it happened or identify the effect of a government policy. Definitions and coverage matter as much as the size of a change.