Jonathan BarrettJonathan Barrett

Jonathan Barrett teaches and researches tax and commercial law at the Victoria Business School, Victoria University of Wellington. His PhD considered the application of human rights to a tax system.

Labour and National promise to lock in existing unfairness in NZ’s tax system

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one figure holding small box, the other holding a stack of boxes. Unfair burden concept

New Zealand’s narrow tax base benefits the wealthy and punishes the poor, says taxation academic Jonathan Barrett – and neither major party seems to want to do anything about it. Ability to pay is the basic principle of tax fairness: people in a similar financial position should pay similar amounts of tax; people who can … Read more

Forget a capital gains tax – what NZ needs is a tax on inherited wealth

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Without a capital gains tax, taxing inheritances is the best opportunity to address the entrenched inequalities of inter-generational wealth, argues Jonathan Barrett. The world’s wealthiest people will transfer US$15.4 trillion in assets to their heirs in the next decade, according to a recent report. Published by specialist data analysts Wealth-X, the report focused on the … Read more