POLL TAX New Zealand

About POLL TAX New Zealand

New Zealand imposed a poll tax on Chinese immigrants starting in 1881. The tax charged 10 pounds per person, equivalent to several months wages. The poll tax was part of a broader set of discriminatory measures designed to restrict Chinese immigration. The tax was reduced to 100 pounds in 1896. Chinese immigrants were also required to read and write English or Chinese to enter New Zealand. The poll tax remained in force until 1944. In 2002, Prime Minister Helen Clark formally apologized to the Chinese community for the poll tax and other discriminatory laws. The poll tax is an example of taxation used as an instrument of racial exclusion, similar to the Chinese Exclusion Act in the United States.