January 27, 2007 4:14PM # NZ’s Richest Woman Escapes High Taxes By [Daniel J. Mitchell](https://www.cato.org/people/daniel-mitchell) --- SHARE Tax competition is a marvelous liberalizing force. Every time a taxpayer leaves a high-tax jurisdiction for a low-tax jurisdiction, bad policy is punished and good policy is rewarded. New Zealand’s richest woman is the latest tax expatriate, as [reported by *The Press*](http://stuff.co.nz/thepress/3939154a6009.html): > Reclusive Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron has moved to Tasmania after spending more than 30 years in Christchurch, where she built a $275 million business fortune. Starting with a small shop in Linwood, Cameron turned her outdoor-clothing and equipment venture into one of the country’s best-known brands, with outlets in New Zealand, Australia and Britain. > > > The Press understands Cameron had looked at staying in New Zealand after selling Kathmandu last year and planned to donate a portion of her annual income from her investments to charities. But under the New Zealand tax regime, all the money she gave away over an $1800 threshold would be taxed, so she opted to move to Australia, where there is no limit. > > > …PricewaterhouseCoopers tax specialist John Shewan said he was not surprised by Cameron’s decision. “It does underline how careful we need to be if we want to retain high-net-worth individuals,” he said. “We need to have a tax-friendly environment. Sadly, we don’t have that at the moment.” > > > Shewan said Cameron would pay no tax on her overseas investments under new Australian tax rules. “Australia has stolen a march on us in terms of attracting high-net-worth individuals,” he said. ##### Related Tags [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).