Flat tax idea raised by Treasury

Treasury is considering a flat tax rate to help close the income gap between New Zealand and Australia.

Finance Minister Bill English had a unique opportunity to reform the tax system, Treasury said.

Two options were a flat tax rate or cuts to taxes on dividends, interest and profit, papers obtained by Radio New Zealand under the Official Information Act showed.

GST, land tax and capital gains tax would be increased to fund the changes.

A tax working group, due to report back in December, was also looking at reform of the tax system.

- NZPA