Today is tax freedom day, but it has come 10 days later than last year.
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Baker Tilly Staples Rodway has calculated New Zealanders will pay 10 days' worth of taxes more in 2022 than they did last year, largely because of last year's reintroduction of the 39 percent top tax rate.
It says the tax increase works out at 15 percent more than last year and brings tax freedom day back to where it was in the early 2000s.
Another significant concern is "bracket creep", where an individual receives an increase in their salary, pushing them into a new higher tax bracket on their marginal earnings.
"The effects of bracket creep are becoming more obvious as more Kiwis receive pay rises," Baker Tilly Staples Rodway tax director Mike Rudd said.
"That's having flow-on effects such as Working for Families payments essentially being paid directly back to the government after tax."
Another recent business survey by Baker Tilly indicates about two thirds of businesses supported adjusting income tax bands in line with inflation to avoid bracket creep.