Chinese Poll Tax

The Chinese Poll Tax was a poll tax that was targeted at Chinese immigrants that moved to New Zealand during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. At first, to limit the number of Chinese people coming to New Zealand, the NZ government only allowed 1 Chinese immigrant per 10 tons of cargo, and when they arrived in NZ, they had to pay a poll tax of £10 (equivalent to $1700 in today's money). Later on, the limit was shifted to one person per 200 tons of cargo, and the poll tax was increased to a whopping £100 ($19000)! If a Chinese immigrant didn't pay the poll tax, they had to catch a ship back to their homeland, and they would've had to wait for many months until the next ship arrived. The poll tax was lifted in the 1930's, and the poll tax was finally eradicated during the mid 20th century. In 2002, the NZ government officially apologised to the descendants of the Chinese immigrants who had to pay the poll tax.