NZ Election 2026: Every Party's Tax Policy Compared

Last verified 13 October 2026 (first published 2 August 2026). Policies may change during the campaign — this comparison reflects what each party has publicly announced as of the last-verified date, and will be reviewed again as the 7 November 2026 election approaches. Parties are listed in a consistent order throughout (Labour, National, ACT, New Zealand First, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori, Opportunity) and described in the same register — this article does not endorse or recommend any party or policy.

One important asymmetry to keep in mind while reading: Labour, the Greens and, since 26 August 2026, Te Pāti Māori have all published detailed, costed tax-policy documents that change the tax system; National and ACT have published costed fiscal plans (12 and 11 October 2026) that leave income-tax rates and brackets unchanged, and New Zealand First has published neither, though National and ACT have both made a specific “no new taxes” pledge (see below). Where a party’s row is short, that reflects the absence of a published policy document, not an editorial choice to omit detail.

Labour

Labour’s headline 2026 tax policy is a 28% flat capital gains tax on residential investment and commercial property (not the family home), announced 28 October 2025, forward-looking from a 1 July 2027 valuation date. Labour forecasts it would raise an average of $700 million a year, ring-fenced for health spending, starting with three free doctor’s visits a year. Full detail: Labour’s capital gains tax explained.

National

National’s tax position is a “no new taxes” pledge plus, since 12 October 2026, a costed fiscal plan with no income-tax cuts. The pledge came first: on 23 August 2026 National confirmed it will not campaign on any new taxes, dropping an earlier accommodation levy (“bed tax”) on short-term rentals and an already-ruled-out bank tax. Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has separately said a capital gains tax “would’ve just put a wrecking ball through our economy.”

The fiscal plan, published on 12 October 2026, lists “not impose new taxes” among its commitments and rules out income-tax cuts for now: “While National’s fiscal plan shows a pathway to potential tax relief for working New Zealanders, now is not the time to cut taxes.” Relief is conditional on the surplus, which the plan forecasts for 2028/29: “Once the books are back in the black and surpluses are growing, a National Government will be in a position to consider tax relief.” It publishes no rates or thresholds. For what the pledge covers, what it names, and the International Visitor Levy reset it produced, see National’s 2026 tax policy explained.

ACT

ACT’s fiscal plan, “Cut the Waste, Grow the Country”, published on 11 October 2026, states that “broad-based tax cuts are not in ACT’s Fiscal Plan” and that its priority “is to balance the books with no new taxes, then deliver large-scale, broad-based tax relief”. It gives no income-tax rates or brackets, so earlier ACT figures for a flatter rate structure (a 28% top rate in older ACT statements, 33% in its 2023 Alternative Budget) are not part of its 2026 plan.

Instead the plan costs several targeted tax changes. The largest is removing tax on qualifying investment earnings inside KiwiSaver funds, costed at $1.065 billion in 2027/28 rising to $1.437 billion in 2030/31. It is partly offset by abolishing the annual Government Contribution for KiwiSaver members who receive employer contributions, which the plan counts as a saving of $516 million in 2027/28. The other measures are a Carbon Tax Refund returning net carbon auction revenue to households (“an estimated $100 per household at current prices”), an uncapped donation tax credit, a 12-month bright-line rule for qualifying personal crypto investments, and further targeted tax relief “to be announced” costing $264 million in the first year. ACT has long opposed any CGT or wealth tax, and the plan repeats its no-new-taxes position. For what the KiwiSaver change would mean for a member, see ACT’s 2026 tax policy explained.

New Zealand First

New Zealand First had not released a comprehensive income-tax, CGT or wealth-tax policy document as of 20 September 2026. Its 2026 campaign has instead focused on targeted family and savings measures: the “Kiwi Kids Grant” (a tax-free $5,000-a-year payment, paid monthly via IRD, for the first three years of a family’s first, second and third child, requiring at least one NZ-citizen parent, announced 2 August 2026, which the party costs at “$400 million by the third year once the full cycle is established”), and an earlier proposal for a $1,000 government contribution to open a KiwiSaver account at birth. At its September 2025 party conference, leader Winston Peters spoke generally about “lowering taxes” alongside higher compulsory KiwiSaver contributions, but no specific bracket or CGT policy has followed for 2026. For which of its tax commitments are current and which date from 2023, see NZ First’s 2026 tax policy explained.

The Greens

The Greens announced “A Tax System for All of Us” on 21 June 2026 — a broader package than Labour’s, combining new income-tax brackets (running from 0% under $10,000 up to 45% above $160,000, with the party’s own document projecting 96% of New Zealanders would get a tax cut) with a 2.5% annual wealth tax on net assets above $10 million (individual) or $20 million (couple, net of mortgages and other debt), a 33% Capital Acquisitions Tax on inheritances and gifts over $1 million (family homes, small gifts and family farms exempt), a higher 33% company tax rate for firms with turnover exceeding $30 million, a 0.06% levy on the liabilities of the four big Australian-owned banks, and enforcement of the existing 5% withholding tax on profits big tech companies send offshore. Full mechanics of the whole package: the Green Party’s 2026 tax plan explained.

On property specifically, the Greens’ lever is different from Labour’s: extending the bright-line test from 2 to 10 years and reversing landlords’ interest deductibility, rather than a Labour-style flat CGT. Two revenue figures circulate for this package and are not directly comparable: a headline “$32 billion over four years” is the gross cumulative new-tax revenue, while the party’s own document reports net revenue (after the cost of the income-tax cuts and Inland Revenue’s implementation funding) of $5.147 billion in 2027/28, rising to $5.725 billion by 2030/31 — around $21.8 billion net across the four years. An initial version of the document, released a day earlier, had mistakenly booked Inland Revenue’s own administration cost as revenue rather than a cost, overstating the net figures by roughly $800 million across the four years ($5.35–5.94 billion); the party corrected this on 22 June 2026, and the figures above are from the corrected document.

Te Pāti Māori

Te Pāti Māori’s tax policy has been substantially updated since this article was first published. On 26 August 2026 the party released its “Kiwi Tax Plan,” which restructures and supersedes its earlier 27 July 2026 announcement. The confirmed income-tax ladder is: 0% up to $30,000, 15% from $30,001–$60,000, 33% from $60,001–$90,000, 39% from $90,001–$180,000, 42% from $180,001–$300,000, and 48% above $300,000. The party says this would leave about 97% of taxpayers better off, with an average benefit of roughly $4,000 a year for the 4.2 million people it estimates would gain.

The plan is funded by several new measures, each with a fiscal impact the party states in its own manifesto: a tiered net wealth tax — 1.5% from $2,000,000 to $5,000,000, 2.0% from $5,000,000 to $10,000,000, and 2.5% above $10,000,000, with $2,000,000 per person excluded ($8.8 billion); restoring the company tax rate to 33% from 28% ($3.4 billion); an International Profit Transfer Tax of “5% on the value of profits transferred offshore” ($1.0 billion); a land-banking tax of 33% ($2.8 billion); a vacant-house tax of 2% ($1.7 billion); and a 5% stamp duty on residential sales, “excluding first home buyers for homes under $1 million” ($2.1 billion). The wealth-tax scale is more moderate than the 2%/4%/8% figures the party floated in 2023, which are no longer current.

The “No GST on Kai” measure is not a GST rate change. The manifesto describes it as “a targeted tax rebate for people earning $60,000 or less,” worth the “equivalent to 8 weeks of kai” and benefiting “64% of people (3 million people),” at a fiscal impact of $2.8 billion. Press coverage often shortens this to “GST off food,” which overstates what the policy does.

These figures are quoted from Te Pāti Māori’s own “Policy Manifesto 2026 — Tax,” linked from the party’s tax policy page. Where press coverage disagreed with that document, the manifesto is followed: several outlets reported the vacant-house tax at 33% alongside the land-banking tax, but the party’s document states 33% for land banking and 2% for vacant houses.

Opportunity (formerly TOP)

The Opportunities Party now presents itself as Opportunity, and its website has moved from top.org.nz to opportunity.org.nz. Its “Tax Reset” policy document, published in May 2026, is the most structurally different proposal in the field, and the most fully specified of any party outside Parliament.

Three pieces work as one package. Income tax is replaced with three brackets — 28% up to $50,000, 34% from $50,001 to $200,000, and 39% above $200,001. Every adult receives a tax-free Citizen’s Income of $19,400 a year, paid fortnightly, replacing Jobseeker Support, Sole Parent Support, Student Allowance and Supported Living Allowance. Both are funded by an annual land value tax of 1.75% on urban land and 0.5% on rural land, charged on “the unimproved value” of land and explicitly not on “the value of buildings or other improvements”. A fourth strand converts NZ Superannuation to a compulsory contributory scheme, KiwiSaver 2.0, at 12% of gross earnings.

The land value tax has no threshold and no family-home exemption — it applies to the land under every non-exempt urban property from the first dollar, with exemptions for communally-owned Māori land, conservation land, government land and Treaty settlement land, and deferral until sale for superannuitants. That is a different instrument from both Labour’s capital gains tax, which is charged on a realised gain, and the Green and Te Pāti Māori wealth taxes, which apply above a threshold to net assets generally. Opportunity proposes neither a capital gains tax nor a wealth tax, and its document is silent on GST and the company tax rate.

For the rates, exemptions, deferrals and the party’s own costing table, see TOP’s 2026 tax policy explained.

Where Labour’s CGT sits in this field

Labour is the only party proposing a CGT in the classic sense — a flat rate on realised property gains. The Greens’ property lever works through the existing bright-line and interest-deductibility settings instead, and Opportunity’s works through an annual land value tax. National, ACT and New Zealand First have all indicated general opposition to new capital or wealth taxes without a costed alternative. For the mechanics of Labour’s specific proposal, see Labour’s capital gains tax explained and, for what stays untaxed under it, what’s exempt from Labour’s CGT.

Election timeline

The election is on Saturday 7 November 2026, with polling from 9am to 7pm and preliminary results released progressively from after 7pm. Parliament is expected to dissolve on 1 October 2026 (writ day 4 October, nominations close 8 October). Advance voting begins 26 October 2026; the regulated election-advertising period runs 7 August 2026 to 6 November 2026. Official results are declared 27 November 2026, and the writ is returned — formally declaring the elected members — by 3 December 2026.

Estimate Labour’s proposal for yourself

If you want to see what Labour’s specific CGT proposal — the only flat-rate CGT among the policies above — could mean for a property you own, use the Labour capital gains tax calculator.