In the 2025 tax year, the total amount of taxable income was $278.2 billion. That number is a 3.6% increase compared to the 2024 tax year.
The graph above shows the total taxable income declared by individuals by income tax band for the 2005, 2015 and 2025 tax years.
Individuals with taxable income between $0 and $100 are not included in the graph. This is because of high numbers of people and small income amounts in total. You can download the data for these groups on the 'Tax on taxable income datasets' page.
Notes on data trends
The graphed distribution of total taxable income shows spikes of increased values of total taxable income at various taxable income levels below $35,000. These reflect income-tested taxable benefits and New Zealand Superannuation.
There are spikes in the 2015 tax year near the personal tax thresholds of $38,000 and $60,000 where the personal tax rate increases.
In the 2015 tax year the thresholds were different, and the spikes were at $48,000 and $70,000 of taxable income.
In the 2025 tax year there are no discernible spikes, which reflects the use of composite rates during the year. There is a spike at $180,000 as a result of the top personal tax rate applying from 1 April 2021.
The total amount of income in the $179,001-$180,000 taxable income band has increased from $1.3 billion in the 2024 tax year to $2.2 billion in the 2025 tax year. This is from an increase in distributions from trusts to individuals.
Where to find more details
The graphed distributions stop at $150,000 of taxable income for the 2005 tax year and at $200,000 for the 2015 and 2025 tax years. The upper limits are in the download link on the 'Tax on taxable income datasets' page.
Tax on taxable income datasets