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Story: Taxes

Taxing fringe benefits

Video file

In the early 1980s companies legally avoided tax by giving their employees fringe benefits (perks) such as cheap flights or company cars. From 1 April 1985 these were taxed at 45%, helping to reduce tax avoidance. In this footage an Air New Zealand employee attempts to defend the perk of free flights.

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TVNZ Television New Zealand

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How to cite this page

Paul Goldsmith, Taxes – Labour government reforms – 1984 to 1990, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/video/21554/taxing-fringe-benefits (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Paul Goldsmith, published 27 October 2009, updated 2 September 2016.