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3.8 KiwiSaver and new Tax estimates
4th March 2026
In this release we have included the new contribution rules around KiwiSaver (that become law April 2026), and we have expanded functionality to enable you to investigate impacts to your retirement from various ‘Tax’ changes proposed in “Election 2026”.

While these tax proposals are still a moving target, with many of them more ‘Soundbite’ than ‘Substance’, we wanted to enable you to perform additional “what if” scenarios to develop a ‘Plan B’ should some of the more extreme (and less thought-out) proposals become law.

We’ll continue to refine this functionality as policies become clearer (which for many may be only after the election).

Following is a summary of the proposed tax changes, along with instructions to use our free retirement planning spreadsheet to model their impacts on your retirement.

ELECTION 2026 - Proposed tax changes impacting retirement
The main political party’s tax proposals are listed alphabetically below. These proposals seem to change daily as the parties react to public feedback. As such, we have used their publicly available policy documents from their websites. Our current understanding is:
Act: “The ACT Party is fundamentally opposed to a capital gains tax (CGT) and has no such plan in its policy platform”. They indicate they would: - repeal the bright-line tax
- make the marginal tax rates a “flatter and simpler system” with only 2 rates":
0K – 70K 17.5%
70K+ 28%
We assume these rates exclude the current 1.6% ACC levy
- currently they are not suggesting any new taxes.
Greens: The Green party are proposing a wide range of tax changes: - changing the top marginal tax rate to 45% (also impacting the existing Brightline, Intention, and FIF capital taxes).
0K – 10K 0%
10K – 50K 17%
50K – 75K 30%
75K – 120K 35%
120K – 180K 39%
180K+ 45%
We assume these rates exclude the current 1.6% ACC levy
- changing the company tax rate to 33% impacting all people who own and operate a company they hope to sell for retirement
- adding a 2.5% annual wealth tax (requiring people to sell their assets to pay the new tax)
- adding a 1.5% Trust tax “so people cannot move their money into a Trust to avoid the Wealth Tax”
- adding a 33% inheritance tax on any lifetime Gifts or inheritance > $1M (also applied when your partner dies, significantly reducing your lifestyle in the later phase of retirement when living alone)
- they also indicate “Further changes to ACC levies will be introduced from 2026” although they don’t say if these will be up or down. Based on the proposed expanded role for ACC, one should assume these will increase.
Labour: While the Labour party are saying they will be adding a Capital Gains Tax (CGT), they are basically changing the current Brightline Tax to a more inclusive Property Tax. Their proposed CGT only covers residential and commercial property and currently excludes other types of investments. Their changes are: - expanding the Brightline test from 2 years to all commercial and residential properties (excluding the family Home). Gains from a notional date and value in 2027 will be taxed at 28%- yhey also confirm: “Their other tax policies for 2026 have not been released yet” – so there may be more taxes still to be disclosed.
National: They have indicated “No capital Gains Tax”, although they don’t indicate if they will remove or adjust the two existing ones (Brightline and FIF taxes) to align with this statement. - No other tax policies for 2026 have been released yet, so watch this space.
NZ First: As yet no 2026 policy documents are available on the NZ First website. In a September 2025 speech “NZ First leader Winston Peters has promised to make KiwiSaver compulsory, with contributions from employers and employees rising to 10 percent and tax cuts to curb the extra cost.”- No tax policies (or any policies) for 2026 have been released yet.
Te Pati Māori: They currently propose to make the most tax changes:- remove GST from food- change all the marginal tax rates bringing in the top rate at 48%. 0K – 30K 0% 130K – 60K 15% 60K – 90K 33% 90K – 180K 39% 180K – 300K 42% 300K+ 48% We assume these rates exclude the current 1.6% ACC levy- change the company tax rate to 33% - introduce a Wealth Tax (based on net wealth levels with the top rate at 8% per year) paid annually 0 – 2M 0% 12M-4MK 2% 4M – 8M 4% 8M+ 8%- add a Foreign Companies Tax (additional 2% on top of the 33%), - add a new Land Banking Tax (33% of the land value) - add a new Vacant House Tax (33% of the market value).
Spreadsheet Changes
To help you see the impact these proposed tax changes will have on your retirement, you can now model the following:- Changes to the marginal tax rates- Changes to the current ACC levy (which further change the marginal tax rates)- Changes to company tax rates- Expand the current Brightline Tax to reflect Labours proposed CGT- Add a wealth tax and set the rates as applicable- Change KiwiSaver employee and employer contributions And with MMP, you never know what combinations of these various proposals you are likely to end up with, so you can even model something ‘in the middle’. We recommend you make a copy of your current retirement plan before you start, so you can compare the impacts to your current situation.
Marginal Tax RatesThese are adjusted in the Tables worksheet in table T10. The income bands are in columns A and B, with the appropriate rate (ACC exclusive) entered into column G. ACC LevyThis is adjusted in the Tables worksheet in table T10. The ACC levy gets added to the marginal tax rates to provide the overall rate used in the calculation of income tax (and any other tax applied at your marginal rate). Company Tax RateThis is adjusted in the Tables worksheet in table T10. At the moment this is not used as the investments sheet assumes any business income or property income (run through a company) is net of expenses and tax. We suggest that you talk to your accountant regarding the impacts any change to the Company tax rate may have on your net income. They may have alternate suggestions to help minimise the impact for your retirement. Brightline TaxThis is adjusted in the Tables worksheet in table T10 and was introduced in the previous version release. You can set this to utilise either your marginal tax rate or a fixed rate (e.g. 28%) based on which Party proposal you are modelling. The Period cell by default is set to 2 years (as per the current law), but can be set to 99 years to include all investment properties. To remove the Brightline tax, set the rate to “F” (Fixed), the rate to “0%” and the period to ”99” Wealth TaxThis is adjusted in the Tables worksheet in table T10. The proposed rates can be changed in column B, with the bands set in column F. The tax is calculated and shown at the very bottom of the Details worksheet and gets added as an expense when you change the “Income in retirement planning?” cell from “N” to “Y”. You can set if the tax is paid either annually or by the estate upon death (set Paid to either A or E). We hope there will be a delay before this in introduced to sort out the details, so you can also set a start date KiwiSaver contributionsThis is adjusted at the bottom of the Tables worksheet in table T13. Here you can update the Government contribution and the employer and employee contributions. The employee and employer contributions are the current legal requirement. What you are currently paying are maintained on the Retirement Plan and Investments worksheets. If you have elected to pay a higher contribution, then that will be used until the law indicates a higher one applies. By law, employer contributions stop when you turn 65. If your employment contract indicates they will contribute beyond 65 (and you plan to retire after 65) then you can adjust the year in this section.
Unintended Consequences: Wikipedia indicates: “The law of unintended consequences states that actions, especially government interventions or policies, always produce unforeseen, unanticipated, and often undesirable outcomes. It serves as a warning that complex systems rarely react in simple, predictable ways, leading to results that differ from the original, intended goals”. Accountant, Lawyers, Economists and some Media are already suggesting a range of unintended consequences that may result from these proposed tax changes. These currently include (but are not limited to):
The value of house prices falling as people approaching retirement sell early to avoid the Property Tax (CGT). If you have property you plan to sell, you may want to adjust the sale price (and/or date) accordingly.
Investment returns that include property or NZ Shares will decrease due to the decrease in property values, plus the Property Tax and Company Tax increases. This may impact Managed funds, ETS and KiwiSaver returns. If any of your current or proposed investments include property or NZ shares, you may want to review the expected likely returns.
People will invest in expanding their own home (Mansions) as a way to avoid capital gain taxes and increase capital, thereby reducing their investments into KiwiSaver, businesses, shares etc.
As investment properties are sold, rents will increase due to shortage of supply, but compliance costs (to better track expenses to avoid the property tax) will increase. Net rental yields will be impacted most likely negatively. Check what returns you are planning from any investment property and adjust if needed.
Inflation will increase as companies raise their prices to recover the additional costs and taxes imposed on them. This will impact lifestyle costs now and in retirement.
Capital Flight. High-net-worth individuals will move themselves or their investments to more favourable tax jurisdictions. Investors may invest in shares of overseas companies rather than NZ companies, impacting investment returns (e.g. Managed Funds, NZ ETF’s, KiwiSaver returns etc.) and reducing the capital available for NZ companies to expand.
If you think any of these may impact you or your retirement, try some additional what-if scenario planning. Remember, your spreadsheet is your crystal-ball into your financial future. Many of these variables are based on their historical averages, but can be changed in the existing spreadsheet as follows:
Download the latest version and enter you information
Make a copy of your latest planning spreadsheet (it is always good to try out “what if” scenarios on a copy)
In Tables T10 - set the type of rate to F (Fixed), the Fixed Rate to 28%, the start date to1800 and the Period to 999 (as it seems to cover all rental properties irrespective of when purchased or sold)
On the Goals worksheet enter a date for the sale of one of your rental properties to 2029
On the Investment worksheet you can see if CGT will apply on the sale or not
On the Details worksheet in the assumptions section (columns B to I) of the bottom of the ‘Cash-Out’ section (rows 131 – 199), you should see the capital gain tax calculation and the interest rate used
If you want, change T10 to use your marginal tax rate (change F back to M), you can see your estimated taxable income and the applicable rate at the bottom of the Details worksheet by year. The capital gain gets added as income (e.g. salary + interest + NZ Super + capital gain etc.) to estimate the applicable marginal tax rate that would apply)
Inflation: Change in the Details worksheet at cell C46 Property capital growth: Change in the Tables worksheet T8 at cell H170 Managed funds and other investment returns: These can be changed individually in Table T8 Cells H160 to H172. Or overall via the Retirement Plan Yellow lever Lifestyle Costs: Change on the Retirement Plan by adjusting the Green levers

As always, if you have any questions or identify any errors please feel free to contact us so we can fix them for yourself and the many others that use our planning spreadsheet. Also, if you have other proposals or ideas you would like us to consider including in a future release, please let us know. And if you see any new tax policies published on websites, let us know so we update this page.
3.7 Bright-line Tax estimated
8th November 2025
In this release we have fixed a couple minor errors users have identified regarding the sale of rental properties. We have also enhanced the functionality around the calculation of the Bright-Line tax applicable to rental properties, to enable you to perform additional “what if” scenario planning. We have also added some extra blank rows into some worksheets to add additional proposed tax changes being discussed (once they provide more clarity).

Bright-Line Tax
As explained in our free Financial Planning for Retirement Guide, many pre-retirees have seen rental property as a key component of their retirement planning. Regular interference by various Government in the property market, along with unclear proposed tax changes, may result in many pre-retirees receiving less money when selling their rental property, than they may have envisaged. While there is no general CGT, New Zealand already has specific rules that tax certain capital gains and many of these already include property:
Bright-line tax for property: This rule taxes the profit from the sale of residential property (that is not your main home) if it is sold within a certain time frame (currently back to a 2 year period, though this is proposed to change again by different political parties). Capital gains on a property sold within the applicable timeframe are currently treated as additional standard income in that year of the sale, and taxed at your marginal rates (17.5%, 30%, 33%, 39% etc.) i.e. the gain gets added to your income that year and gets taxed accordingly.
"Intention" rule: Any person who buys an asset (including property, shares, or art) with the intention of reselling it for a profit is subject to income tax on that gain, regardless of the holding period. Taxed at the rate of the entity that made the Trade (Company: 28%, Family Trust: 39%, Person: Marginal Tax Rate as above). The concept of 'intention' is quite subjective, so that is why the Bright-line tax was created.
Professional traders: People who are considered professional traders (e.g. traders in shares, crypto assets, or property) are taxed on their profits as business income. These are generally held in a company structure, so taxed at 28%
Foreign Investment Funds (FIF) rules: Gains on foreign shares or investments worth over $50,000 and not held in a PIE (“Portfolio Investment Entity”) structure, are subject to tax under specific complex FIF rules, which include a ‘deemed’ capital gains tax. These are also at the applicable rate of the entity that owns the shares. For Managed Funds that operate as a “PIE”, this tax does not apply, although managed funds and ETF’s that hold primarily property may be impacted by proposed changes/introduction to a capital gains tax or bright-line (property) tax.
As we approach election time, various new taxes and changes are being suggested. As such we want our retirement planning spreadsheet to enable users to try out some of these new taxes in advance, and see the impact they may have on their retirement before they become law. Not all parties have released their tax policies, and we are sure some of the current proposals will change before the election (or during coalition negotiations). Current Tax Suggestions we have found on the internet (and these are changing daily as the associated parties react to the feedback received from the public on their proposal):
Act: “The ACT Party is fundamentally opposed to a capital gains tax (CGT) and has no such plan in its policy platform." They indicate they would repeal the bright-line tax, and would make the marginal tax rates a “flatter and simpler system” with only 2 rates 17.5% for $0 – $70K and 28% for any income over $70K. Currently they are not suggesting any new taxes.
Greens: Changing the top marginal tax rate to 45% (impacting the existing Brightline, Intention, and FIF taxes). Changing the company tax rate to 33% impacting all people who own and operate a company they hope to sell for retirement, adding a 2.5% annual wealth tax, and a 33% inheritance tax (applicable even if your partner dies before you).
Labour: Expanding the Brightline test from 2 years to all commercial and residential properties (excluding the family Home). Other tax policies have not been released yet.
National: “No capital Gains Tax” (although they don’t indicate if they will remove or adjust the existing ones to align with this statement). No other policies have been released yet.
Te Pati Māori: Plan to remove GST from food and change all the marginal tax rates bringing in the top rate at 48%. They also want to: change the company tax rate to 33% and introduce a Wealth Tax (based on wealth levels with the top rate at 8% per year), add a Foreign Companies Tax (additional 2% on top of the 33%), add a new Land Banking Tax (33% of the land value) and a new Vacant House Tax (33% of the market value). Their policy is very light on details so many of these won’t be included unless they are ever needed.
Spreadsheet Changes
In this release we have exposed some of the variables to the bright-line tax, so if you own property, you can change them and see any potential impacts they may have on your retirement. Previously these were hidden in various complex formulas, and can now be modified by the user:
On the Investments worksheet, we have added a “CGT” column to the properties area to indicate if the bright-line tax should be deducted from the sale price or not. This is a simple Y or N field. We try to correctly set this for you based on the current rules located in T10 of the Tables worksheet.
In the Details worksheet we have added some rows at the bottom of the Cash-Out group to add the above various one-off taxes as we include them. Currently it lists your properties and will calculate the applicable tax in the year of any property sale.
At the very bottom of the Details sheet, we add up what is potentially taxable income to guess what your marginal tax rate is for each year during your retirement (based on income for that year). This is in anticipation of needing to know the marginal tax rate to apply to any new future taxes.
In the Tables worksheet, in T10 we have added various variables to allow you to try out different bright-line tax proposals.
You can indicate if the sale is taxed at a fixed rate, or your marginal tax rate
You can change the rate if you think it will be higher than the proposed 28%
You can change the start re the date of purchase that will apply (currently 2024)
You can change the period from 2 to a different number of years (it started at 2 different Governments changed it to 5 then 10 and now it is back at 2)
And you can even include your own home if you want.
For example, if you have a rental and want to try out the latest Labour party CGT,
Download the latest version and enter you information
Make a copy of your latest planning spreadsheet (it is always good to try out “what if” scenarios on a copy)
In Tables T10 - set the type of rate to F (Fixed), the Fixed Rate to 28%, the start date to1800 and the Period to 999 (as it seems to cover all rental properties irrespective of when purchased or sold)
On the Goals worksheet enter a date for the sale of one of your rental properties to 2029
On the Investment worksheet you can see if CGT will apply on the sale or not
On the Details worksheet in the assumptions section (columns B to I) of the bottom of the ‘Cash-Out’ section (rows 131 – 199), you should see the capital gain tax calculation and the interest rate used
If you want, change T10 to use your marginal tax rate (change F back to M), you can see your estimated taxable income and the applicable rate at the bottom of the Details worksheet by year. The capital gain gets added as income (e.g. salary + interest + NZ Super + capital gain etc.) to estimate the applicable marginal tax rate that would apply)
Don’t forget to reset anything you have changed (sale date, bright-line tax variables etc.) and let us know if you see any problems in the calculations. We will try and add some of the other new tax proposals in future releases of the spreadsheet if more clarity is ever provided.
Version 3 - initial Release
August 2023

A big “thank you” to all the people that provided comments, suggestions (and fixes) to version 1 and 2 our free retirement guide and planning spreadsheet.

We have included all these great ideas (plus additional ones) into Version 3. We have updated the excel spreadsheet (the retirement plan) to align with the changes in the new retirement planning guide.

We have simplified the spreadsheet to make it quicker to ‘see the results’ and moved all the most common information onto the front worksheet.

The new Retirement Planning Guide contains comprehensive instructions of how to transfer data from your Planning RoadMap into your spreadsheet, and as you work through the retirement planning to fix your financial gaps, how to enter any decisions you make to quickly see the impacts.

We appreciate all your feedback and ideas, and will continue to expand our guide to include additional topics suggested, simplify your planning, or where you suggest additional instructions are needed to make retirement planning easier for you.

Feel free to email us your suggestions (or any problems you find).

Thanks.

Retirement Planning Spreadsheet Release Notes

3.8 KiwiSaver and new Tax estimates

4th March 2026

ELECTION 2026 - Proposed tax changes impacting retirement

Act: “The ACT Party is fundamentally opposed to a capital gains tax (CGT) and has no such plan in its policy platform”. They indicate they would: - repeal the bright-line tax

- make the marginal tax rates a “flatter and simpler system” with only 2 rates":

0K – 70K 17.5%

70K+ 28%

We assume these rates exclude the current 1.6% ACC levy

- currently they are not suggesting any new taxes.

Greens: The Green party are proposing a wide range of tax changes: - changing the top marginal tax rate to 45% (also impacting the existing Brightline, Intention, and FIF capital taxes).

0K – 10K 0%

10K – 50K 17%

50K – 75K 30%

75K – 120K 35%

120K – 180K 39%

180K+ 45%

We assume these rates exclude the current 1.6% ACC levy

- changing the company tax rate to 33% impacting all people who own and operate a company they hope to sell for retirement

- adding a 2.5% annual wealth tax (requiring people to sell their assets to pay the new tax)

- adding a 1.5% Trust tax “so people cannot move their money into a Trust to avoid the Wealth Tax”

- adding a 33% inheritance tax on any lifetime Gifts or inheritance > $1M (also applied when your partner dies, significantly reducing your lifestyle in the later phase of retirement when living alone)

- they also indicate “Further changes to ACC levies will be introduced from 2026” although they don’t say if these will be up or down. Based on the proposed expanded role for ACC, one should assume these will increase.

3.7 Bright-line Tax estimated

8th November 2025

Bright-Line Tax

Spreadsheet Changes

Version 3 - initial Release

August 2023