"Direct tax structures are regularly revised and debates over changes are heated. Taxes affect the behaviour of individuals and families in ways which are hard to predict, but which impose constraints on governments trying to achieve their objectives. Attempts to help one group of individuals...

"This article examines the redistributive effects of direct taxes and transfers in New Zealand. First, it reports summary measures of the income tax-and-transfer system using the NZ Household Economic Survey. Second, the article examines the characteristics of low-income NZ taxpayers. A...