Abstract:
This paper traces the rise and fall of death duties and gift duty in New Zealand from 1866 (when death duties were first introduced) until the present day.2 It is a legal history, but seeks to place the development of the law within its political and economic contexts. The story has a number of strands, largely because there was not just one death duty but several (sometimes simultaneously, sometimes sequentially), namely probate duty, legacy duty, succession duty and, finally, estate duty. As for gift duty, it was added to the system in 1885 to stop people avoiding death duties by giving their property away – typically to their children, or on trust for their children, who would in due course inherit anyway. Those who took this course usually did not even lose control over their wealth, because they kept enough of it to keep their children guessing. ....