But they all raise the same questions. Who benefits? Who pays? And will you actually be better off?
Each week, The Front Page has taken you through each party’s policies on issues that matter most to New Zealanders.
In the final episode of our election series, we’re putting the parties’ economic and tax plans to the test.
National
If re-elected, National is committing to no new taxes. The party would prioritise a return to surplus in 2028/29, and bring debt down below 40% of GDP.
To keep taxes low and return to surplus, National would right-size government by restoring spending as a share of the economy to historic norms, at 30% of GDP over time.
From July 2028, National would make contributions to KiwiSaver compulsory for all workers and lift combined default contributions to 12% by 2032. From July next year, enrolment into the scheme would be from birth, matched with a $1500 Baby Boost payment.
The party’s finance spokeswoman Nicola Willis told The Front Page that the coalition has been doing “a big clean-up job these past three years”.
“The good news is now, ahead of us, we can see a much stronger economy.
“We’re now growing faster than Australia, the UK, many countries we choose to compare ourselves with, and both the Treasury and international forecasters are expecting that to persist, and for us to have a good few years of growth ahead of us.
“With that comes the creation of 220,000 new jobs, and incomes rising faster than inflation, which will allow Kiwis opportunities to get ahead. So the opportunity now is to lock that growth in,” she said.
Labour
Labour wants to balance the books and return to surplus by 2029/30, reduce net debt to 20% of GDP over time, and keep Government spending and revenue sustainable.
Under Labour, core Crown expenditure and revenue will remain around 33% of GDP once the capital gains tax (CGT) is fully implemented.
The targeted CGT would apply to commercial or residential property, excluding the family home or farm, that is sold after July 1, 2027. The party predicts nine in 10 New Zealanders won’t pay any tax on the property they own.
The party’s finance spokeswoman Barbara Edmonds told The Front Page that the number one economic issue facing Kiwis right now is the cost of living.
“You need to provide that cost of living relief for people, real practical initiatives such as the public transport fare cap of $20, such as making it easier for you to see your doctor by costs not being a barrier and giving you three free GP visits and free prescriptions.
“Then on the other side, we need to tackle the reasons as to why New Zealand does have lower wages, and that comes down to productivity. So we want an economy to grow, but we also want it working for people.
“And so helping on both sides of that particular ledger means that we can address it more for people in the short term and the longer term,” she said.
Act
The Act Party wants to introduce a Training Wage set at 60% of the adult minimum wage for workers under 20 during their first 12 months with an employer, cut red tape to make it easier for start-ups to raise capital, and is promising no new taxes.
It also wants to reduce Government spending by consolidating 43 departments into 19. The 78 overlapping portfolios with 28 ministers would be collapsed into just 18 ministers.
The party wants to remove tax on KiwiSaver investment earnings and discontinue the Government contribution, as well as gradually raise the NZ Super age to 67 by 2035 with compassionate early access for people who have spent their careers in physically demanding jobs.
Act leader David Seymour told The Front Page that the problem we’ve had over the past 20 years is that “nearly every economic policy has been about consumption instead of production”.
“We want to reduce the amount of tax that Government takes so that companies can recycle more money and invest more and do stuff smarter to produce more valuable products and pay more.
“That’s our smaller, more efficient government. But we are also critically reducing red tape and regulation because, in my view, the biggest problem we have is that people spend a huge amount of time either being told no or trying to pay fees or comply, filling out forms, waiting for delays on everything from teaching a kid to building a house to getting a loan,” he said.
New Zealand First
New Zealand First wants to make KiwiSaver enrolment compulsory at birth with an automatic immediate Crown contribution of $1000, for New Zealand citizens only.
The party is committing to lowering the company tax rate for SMEs to 20% for companies with turnover under $30m, from its current 28%. Additionally, it wants to establish a $100 billion New Zealand Future Fund to invest solely in a multidecade infrastructure build.
It also wants to see an uplift of the minimum wage every year for the next three years, as well as an increase to the Working for Families benefit.
NZ First finance spokesman Craig Stobo told The Front Page that the party also has a plan to double the size of the economy by 2050.
“What does that mean in dollar terms? Going from $450 billion to $900 billion. And the only way we’re going to get there is at a 3% per annum growth rate, by increasing investment and business activity.
“So the business activity is going to come from us providing to small and medium-sized enterprises, which employ most of the Kiwis in New Zealand, a cut to the tax rate of SMEs from 28% to 20%.
“That 8% difference in tax will go onto those businesses to hire people, pay more wages, buy plant and equipment, pay off debt, and potentially increase the size of their businesses by acquisition,” he said.
Greens
The Green Party wants to introduce a 2.5% tax on the net assets of the super-rich above $10m, create a new tax rate for income over $160,000, and have a tax threshold of $10,000.
The party also wants to implement a Capital Acquisitions Tax on assets and gifts received worth over $1m, with family farms and homes exempt.
It wants to return the corporate tax rate to 33% for the 0.7% biggest corporations like supermarkets, energy companies, and banks.
It would also make big tech companies pay a 5% withholding tax rate on profits they send offshore.
Greens spokesman Lawrence Xu-Nan told The Front Page that it also wants to reverse the interest deductibility rules, or the “landlord tax”.
“On one hand, when it comes to interest deductibility, we often don’t see the same impact that it will have for renters in particular. But at the same time, what we are offering – this $2.9 billion for landlords – we can actually put into other important projects like scaling up our public homes and having more housing stock.
“This term, we’re seeing a record level of builders and constructors losing their jobs. Um, and we don’t see the same sort of promises being fulfilled around the scaling up of public house builds,” he said.
Opportunity
Opportunity wants a tax reset that would include a Citizen’s income of up to $370 a week, a Land Value Tax of 1.75%, and a compulsory KiwiSaver with contribution rates to rise to 6% over time.
The party wants to lift research and development spending to at least 2% of GDP, introduce new technology investment tax credits, and double funding for proven accelerator programmes.
It is promising to fund small business budgeting services, introduce a 25% tax credit to help small businesses adopt new tools, and issue low-interest loans for household electrification.
Opportunity leader Qiulae Wong told The Front Page that she’s disappointed by the way that some parties are talking about tax.
“Because it is a big topic for New Zealanders to discuss whether our tax settings are working for us.
“Our belief is that it’s not. The status quo is making it harder to buy a house. It’s making it harder for particularly lower-income families to get ahead. And so we do need to think about what the foundational tax settings are that support our economy.
“Ultimately what we would really like to see is a grown-up conversation and a recognition that the status quo is not working. And it’s been a shame that there’s been some really reductive, simplistic messaging around this because New Zealanders deserve better than that,” she said.
Te Pāti Māori
Te Pāti Māori wants to transform the tax system by removing tax for the first $30,000 earned and introducing higher tax brackets for high-income earners.
For people earning less than $60,000, the party would provide an Income Kai Credit worth up to eight weeks of free food each year, which it estimates would benefit 64% of the country.
A targeted wealth tax would see people with an average net wealth of $6m pay anywhere from 1.5% to 2.5% extra tax, which the party said would affect 3% of Kiwis.
Te Pāti Māori wants to return the company tax from 28% back to 33%, introduce an International Profit Transfer Tax with a rate of 5% on the value of profits transferred offshore, and implement a Land Banking Tax of 33% to “support the productive use of land”.
The party also promises to raise the minimum wage to the living wage, restore pay equity, eliminate starting-off and youth wages, and double baseline benefit levels.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.