New Zealand Tax History Bibliography

Introduction

The spirit of a people, its cultural level, its social structure, the deeds its policy may prepare… all this and more is written in fiscal history. He who knows how to listen to its message here discerns the thunder of world history more clearly than anywhere else

Joseph Schumpeter quoted in RA Musgrave “Schumpeter’s crisis of the tax state: an essay in fiscal sociology” (1992) 2 J Evol Econ 90

The recognition of taxation’s importance in understanding a nation’s cultural and political history has generated a substantial body of tax history scholarship, particularly in the United Kingdom. While significant progress has been made over the last quarter-century in documenting New Zealand’s own tax history, much remains to be done. 

This bibliography is a good-faith attempt to compile all that has been written on the subject thus far. It is hoped that this compilation will assist those interested in tax history to form a clear picture of the field as it stands and illuminate the gaps in the record that remain. 

To assist readers in navigating this list, works in this bibliography have been grouped into the following four categories: 

  • New Zealand Tax History Studies
    Works primarily concerned with New Zealand’s tax history. 
  • “Marginal” Tax History Studies
    This category includes works covering events that were recent at the time of publication. This would include, for example, a 1990 publication on tax reforms occurring between 1980 and 1990.
    More problematically, this category also includes works which are not primarily historical but nonetheless are deemed to include substantial historical content. Defining a precise threshold of substantiality is challenging. While it is routine for such works to include a brief historical introduction, something more than that is required to warrant inclusion. 
  • Comparative Tax History Studies
    Works examining New Zealand’s tax history alongside that of one or more other jurisdictions.
  • Overseas Tax History Studies Authored by New Zealanders
    Works authored by New Zealanders that examine the tax history of other jurisdictions. 

Within each category, texts are organised alphabetically by the author’s surname. Topic keywords have been included for ease of searching. These classifications are necessarily imprecise and are intended to offer no more than a broad indication of the subjects covered. 

Comments and suggestions may be directed to Olivia Ilievska.  

Professor Michael Littlewood
Faculty of Law, University of Auckland
m.littlewood@auckland.ac.nz

Olivia Ilievska
Summer Research Scholar, University of Auckland
osum247@aucklanduni.ac.nz