In the year 2000, 2.7 million New Zealanders filed a tax return. It would take two full decades for that number to climb to 3.8 million. (Source: Stats NZ, taxable-income-sources)

Then came 2020. And suddenly, the pace changed.

By 2024, the number of people earning taxable income in New Zealand hit 4.1 million. That's 287,788 more taxpayers in just four years. To put that in perspective: we added nearly as many taxpayers between 2020 and 2024 as we did in the entire decade from 2000 to 2010.

What happened? Three things collided at once.

First, immigration. The borders reopened in 2022 after two years of COVID closure, and workers flooded back in. Net migration hit record highs. Every arrival with a job became another line in the tax data.

Second, participation. More people who were already here started earning. Retirees went back to work as the cost of living bit. Students picked up part-time shifts. People who'd been out of the workforce for years found their way back in. The pandemic reshaped what counted as "working age."

Third, compliance. IRD's systems got better at capturing income that used to slip through. Contractors, gig workers, side hustles. The tax net widened.

But here's the uncomfortable truth hiding inside these numbers: adding 287,000 taxpayers in four years should feel like an economic boom. More people working means more money flowing, more tax revenue, more growth.

Instead, it feels like we're all treading water.

Because while the number of taxpayers exploded, wages didn't keep pace with inflation. Housing costs didn't stabilise. Public services didn't improve in proportion to the tax base expanding. We added a quarter of a million workers to the economy and most people's lives didn't materially get better.

That's the story the 24-year timeline tells. The slow, steady climb from 2000 to 2020 matched how the economy actually felt: gradual, predictable, stable. The sharp spike from 2020 to 2024 looks like growth on a chart, but on the ground it's looked more like churn.

The labour market got bigger. It didn't get better.

And now, as we sit at 4.1 million taxpayers, the question isn't whether we can add another million in four years. It's whether the next million will actually notice the difference.