Poll taxes, while simple in concept, have a regressive effect and unsurprisingly are usually unpopular for this reason which is why they are not commonly used today. Poll taxes were imposed in 19th century New Zealand, with one of the earliest being a form of poll tax imposed by the Nelson...

New Zealand has seen a change in policy direction from the provision of taxation incentives for retirement income savings from 1910 through to 1988, to removal of all incentives from 1988 through to 2004. In 1910 the focus was primarily on decreasing state dependency, while simultaneously...