Compare the parties.

Party proposal

ACT proposes removing tax on qualifying investment earnings within KiwiSaver. It would also stop the annual government contribution for members who receive employer contributions, and add safeguards against using KiwiSaver to shelter existing investment portfolios.

Who it covers

KiwiSaver members, subject to qualifying-investment rules and safeguards. The government-contribution change applies to members receiving employer contributions.

Timing

The cost tables cover 2027/28–2030/31; the reviewed paper does not state a precise commencement day.

Cost & funding stated by the party

The standalone paper nets to $2.396bn over 2027/28–2030/31. The consolidated fiscal plan’s tax-loss and subsidy-saving lines instead imply $2.772bn, a $376m source difference not reconciled in those papers.

The paper extends relief to non-KiwiSaver superannuation schemes. Different source editions are not automatically errors; the scope and changed assumptions need explanation. Individual gains and losses are not estimated here.

Party proposal

The Greens propose higher benefits, individual entitlements and an end to benefit sanctions. Their tax paper sets a $10,000 tax-free income threshold, a 45% rate above $160,000 and a 2.5% wealth tax above $10 million, with family homes exempt.

Who it covers

Taxpayers and people receiving income support. Wealth thresholds are $10m per individual or $20m per couple, with family homes and other specified assets exempt.

Timing

No implementation date specified in the reviewed source.

Cost & funding stated by the party

Wealth, inheritance and large-company tax changes would fund income reforms and public services. The full paper costs the tax package; a complete manifesto-wide spending reconciliation was not located in the reviewed sources.

Party proposal

Labour proposes a $20 weekly fare cap in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, and $10 elsewhere. Once a person reaches the cap, further covered trips that week would be free.

Who it covers

Bus and train users nationwide, plus some ferries in the three main centres. Scenic and interregional trains, commercial interregional transport and other ferries are excluded.

Timing

In place by 1 July 2027.

Cost & funding stated by the party

Labour’s fiscal plan identifies the National Land Transport Fund: it would reprioritise 1% of the fund for the fare cap. The reviewed fare-cap page does not give a total dollar cost.

Party proposal

Labour proposes a 28% tax on gains made after 1 July 2027 when residential investment or commercial property is sold. Its policy exempts the family home, farms, KiwiSaver, shares, business assets, inheritances and personal items.

Who it covers

People selling covered property for a taxable gain. The page also provides an exemption when a small business sells its premises to buy larger premises.

Timing

Only gains accruing after 1 July 2027, with tax payable on sale.

Cost & funding stated by the party

Labour says all revenue would go to health. Its fiscal plan forecasts $2.8 billion of capital-gains-tax revenue across 2027/28–2030/31; this is a party estimate of future receipts, not a guaranteed amount.

The revenue estimate is from the party’s Fiscal Plan 2026 table, reviewed in the fiscal-plans section below. Transaction volumes, realised gains and implementation affect receipts.

Party proposal

National says it would introduce no new taxes if re-elected. This is not an explicit blanket freeze on existing taxes or levies. It separately promises no increase in the International Visitor Levy for at least three years.

Who it covers

Taxpayers generally. The specific levy commitment covers overseas visitors who pay the International Visitor Levy.

Timing

The proposed next term of government; the visitor-levy freeze is for at least three years.

Cost & funding stated by the party

The visitor-levy reset starts 1 July 2027; its $105.1m net operating effect over 2027/28–2030/31 is included in the new fiscal schedule. The 12 October plan does not allocate a costed income-tax cut or an indexation timetable; it leaves future relief conditional on growing surpluses.

The fiscal paper explicitly acknowledges bracket creep as wages and prices rise. The visitor-levy freeze is not a guarantee about every existing tax, levy, fee or charge. Extra receipts from existing tax rules are not the same as a new tax rate.

Party proposal

National would make KiwiSaver or an equivalent scheme compulsory for workers, lift combined default contributions to 12% by 2032, add $1,500 at birth and fund parental-leave contributions.

Who it covers

Workers, including the self-employed at the employee rate only. Equivalent employer schemes, parental leave and hardship have specified exceptions. Compulsory employer contributions would extend to contributing workers over 65.

Timing

Baby payments, parental-leave top-ups and over-65 employer contributions from 1 July 2027. Compulsory savings from 1 July 2028; employee and employer defaults reach 6% each on 1 April 2032.

Cost & funding stated by the party

The new plan implies $784m net over 2027/28–2030/31: $1,290.1m costs less a $506.1m net tax offset. Crown-employer costs are $140.2m above the original paper; changed assumptions need explanation. The tax offset already deducts reduced income tax.

The original paper excluded uncertain tax receipts. The consolidated plan includes them without publishing the model. The separate parental top-up revision is explained by longer parental leave; a costing revision alone is not a funding hole.

Party proposal

National would extend paid parental leave from 26 to 30 weeks in stages and allow parents to share or overlap the same combined entitlement. A 40-week longer-term ambition depends on future fiscal conditions.

Who it covers

Eligible parents under existing eligibility and maximum weekly-payment settings. Sharing the entitlement does not double the total weeks available for a child.

Timing

27 weeks from 1 July 2027, 28 from 1 July 2028 and 30 from 1 July 2029, for entitlements commencing on or after each date.

Cost & funding stated by the party

Displayed extension costs sum to $327.5m over 2027/28–2030/31, matching the fiscal plan. The standalone $327.4m total differs by $0.1m, consistent with rounding. The $121.9m KiwiSaver top-up is a separate row; shared-leave administration uses existing baselines.

Party proposal

National would add intensive employment support, reduce Jobseeker payments after two of the previous three years, introduce random drug tests and extend the main-benefit residency requirement.

Who it covers

The employment programme targets 30,000 work-ready Jobseekers. Long-term payment reductions are smaller for households with children; Supported Living Payment is unchanged. Existing main-benefit recipients, refugees and protected persons retain specified protections from the residency change.

Timing

Long-term payment reductions and the five-year residency requirement from 1 April 2028. The employment and savings table covers 2027/28–2030/31.

Cost & funding stated by the party

The plan uses $583m net savings, including $11m initial net cost. The welfare paper’s main saving is $572m from reduced payments, with other assistance offsetting one-fifth of the reduction; it does not assume extra employment-response savings from that payment change. Drug testing uses around $1.5m annually from MSD baselines.

Party proposal

NZ First proposes a tax-free $5,000 annual grant for each of a family’s first three children during their first three years. Payments would normally be monthly, with an upfront first-year payment option for the first child.

Who it covers

Families with at least one New Zealand-citizen parent. The party says the payment would not be means-tested and would sit alongside existing support.

Timing

Paid for each eligible child’s first three years; no programme launch date is specified.

Cost & funding stated by the party

The party estimates a $400 million cost by the third year of full operation. The reviewed page does not specify a funding source.

Party proposal

NZ First proposes reducing company tax to 20% for companies with turnover below $30 million, from the 28% rate cited in its policy.

Who it covers

Companies with turnover under $30 million. This is a company-tax proposal, not a personal income-tax cut.

Timing

No implementation date specified in the reviewed source.

Cost & funding stated by the party

NZ First estimates an initial fiscal cost of about $1 billion a year. It says subsequent growth would cover that cost in the medium term; this is the party’s forecast, not an independently verified offset.

Party proposal

NZ First would retain the temporary $50 weekly Working for Families boost, add $70, and increase minimum wages by at least inflation each year of the next term.

Who it covers

Eligible working families and minimum-wage workers. The page’s wording around the total credit is ambiguous; it is not treated as a settled individual entitlement here.

Timing

The minimum-wage commitment is for each year of the next term. No precise Working for Families start date is stated.

Cost & funding stated by the party

The party estimates $500–600m annually for the Working for Families change. No specific funding source or independent offset is given.

Party proposal

The Tax Reset paper proposes $19,400 annual citizen’s income for eligible adults, replacing many benefits with top-ups. It pairs this with 1.75% urban and 0.5% rural land-value tax and phased compulsory retirement saving.

Who it covers

Eligible adult residents, with top-ups for some groups. Land-tax exemptions include communal Māori land, conservation land and social housing; superannuitant deferrals and limited farm deferrals are proposed.

Timing

Two years of planning before the first elements; income and tax changes would extend through age cohorts over a proposed decade. Employee and employer retirement contributions would gradually reach 6% each.

Cost & funding stated by the party

The full paper gives a Tax Reset costing based on 2024 inputs. Its printed totals imply $4.081 billion extra net revenue annually at full implementation, but listed revenue components do not reconcile with the printed total.

The $68m difference is a revenue-table mismatch, not evidence of missing funding. The printed net-revenue estimate is not a government-wide surplus forecast. See Funding & checks for the calculation and limits.

Party proposal

Te Pāti Māori proposes a $30,000 tax-free income threshold, graduated net-wealth taxes, company tax of 33%, and a targeted kai tax rebate rather than a general GST exemption.

Who it covers

The wealth-tax paper exempts the first $2m per person, then applies 1.5%, 2% and 2.5% bands. The kai rebate’s $60,000 income boundary is worded differently in its table and prose and needs clarification.

Timing

Manifesto 2026; the paper does not state an implementation date or the fiscal period for its table.

Cost & funding stated by the party

The tax-table changes net to +$4.1bn at the displayed precision, with no stated period. Detailed tax modelling and a consolidated spending/borrowing schedule are not supplied.