New Zealand’s tax revenue grew to its highest level ever this year. However, in the current economic conditions, more customers have struggled to pay their tax and there has been a notable net growth in overdue tax debt.
Under our completed transformation programme, IR sought to deliver an uplift in Crown tax revenue. Tax revenue for this year was $115.4 billion, 10.5% above 2023 and 14.7% more than in 2022.
Most of the annual growth was in deductions from salary and wages, GST net of refunds and resident withholding tax (RWT) on dividends and interest. (RWT is a tax deducted from some kinds of investment income before the investor receives it.)
The growth in deductions from salary and wages was $4.8 billion (10.4%), reflecting salary and wage growth and the associated increase in tax due to more income being earned in higher tax brackets.
Net GST grew by $3.4 billion (13.0%) as a result of growth in domestic consumption, partially offset by less GST from residential investment. Net GST collected was further boosted by a decline in imported goods, which resulted in smaller refunds.
IR collected $110.3 billion in tax receipts, which is 6.9% higher than in 2023.
We continued to focus on assessing and collecting revenue efficiently, and have increased efforts to get the revenue that is harder to collect because customers have not filed returns correctly or paid their tax on time or in full.
Overdue tax debt (which excludes debt related to child support, student loan, COVID-19 support products and Small Business Cashflow Scheme loans) grew to $7.94 billion. The level of tax debt tends to increase alongside revenue growth. However, economic conditions and changes we made this year to the definitions of overdue tax debt resulted in it increasing at a greater rate than revenue. (There’s more on the page below). We’ve worked with customers to ensure they are repaying debt quickly and sustainably.
4 billion in overdue tax debt collected
IR is furthering the Government’s commitment to operating a stable, predictable revenue system by focusing on continuing to simplify tax, reduce uncertainties for taxpayers and businesses, assure more future revenue and collect more unpaid tax.
Total tax revenue
| Year | Tax revenue (billion) |
|---|---|
| 2024 | $115.4 |
| 2023 | $104.5 |
| 2022 | $100.6 |
| 2021 | $93.8 |
| 2020 | $77.7 |
Main tax revenue types
| Tax type | Revenue | Percentage of tax revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Individuals tax | $58.9 billion | 51% |
| GST | $29.2 billion | 25% |
| Corporate tax | $18.7 billion | 16% |
| Other | $8.6 billion | 8% |
| Total tax revenue | $115.4 billion | 100% |
A breakdown on the tax that takes more effort to collect, using revenue from the 2023/24 financial year.
$106.9 billion in tax revenue was paid on time and in full (94% of it).
- 12.6 million returns were filed on time.
- Cost: $506.8 million to inform customers and process obligations.
$4.03 billion in overdue tax debt was collected.
- $1.71 billion in revenue was assessed from finalising overdue returns.
- Cost: $83.9 million to manage overdue debt and unfiled returns.
$975 million in revenue was identified and expenditure recovered or disallowed through our compliance interventions .
- Cost: $102.7 for investigations.