ACT Party pledges zero crypto tax after 12-month hold in NZ

New Zealand's ACT Party proposes eliminating income tax on personal crypto gains held longer than 12 months, a policy that would exempt roughly 355,000 crypto-transacting residents from capital gains reporting on long-held digital assets.

"Inland Revenue should focus on significant taxable activity, not trivial transactions that create more paperwork than revenue," Nicole McKee, ACT deputy leader and Minister for Courts, said at the CryptoWinter26 event on Aug. 27.

The six-point plan, "Unlocking New Zealand's Digital Economy," would keep full taxation on disposals within 12 months and on professional trading and business activity. It also proposes low-value transaction relief, clearer rules for stablecoins and tokenized assets, and a supervised financial innovation sandbox.

The proposal lands as Inland Revenue implements the Crypto-Asset Reporting Framework, an international data-sharing system that has already triggered warning letters to crypto users. With the general election set for Nov. 7, ACT is courting a constituency that has transacted $36 billion across 57 million transactions, according to Inland Revenue data from April.

Under current rules, Inland Revenue treats crypto as property, making every disposal — a sale, a token swap, or even using crypto to buy a coffee — a taxable event requiring gain or loss calculation. The compliance burden has drawn criticism from advocacy groups like Bitcoin Policy New Zealand, which has pushed for de minimis exemptions on small everyday transactions. Someone who moved between assets a dozen times in a year faces a dozen separate cost-basis calculations, each requiring pricing in New Zealand dollars at the moment of disposal.

ACT's proposal would apply New Zealand's income tax rates of 10.5 percent to 39 percent to crypto disposals within the 12-month window, while long-held positions would join shares and KiwiSaver on the untaxed side of the line. The contrast with Labour's proposed 28 percent capital gains tax on investment property from July 1, 2027, is stark: two parties, two different ideas about which gains the state should collect from.

The stablecoin provisions are notable for their scope. ACT wants a regulatory regime for "qualifying payment stablecoins" to unlock faster, lower-cost cross-border payments, alongside clearer treatment for tokenized securities and real-world assets. The party also pledged to examine whether red tape is preventing legitimate fintech firms from opening bank accounts.

The party currently polls as New Zealand's fourth or fifth largest, projected at nine seats in the most recent RNZ Reid Research poll. No other parliamentary party has publicly declared a comparable crypto-focused policy platform, leaving ACT alone in courting the crypto vote ahead of the Nov. 7 election.

McKee framed the wider argument around jobs rather than speculation. Tokenized assets "can open up new sources of investment," she said. "Stablecoins can make international payments faster and cheaper. New financial technology can create high-value businesses and jobs."

The revenue cost of the exemption has not been disclosed, a number Treasury and rival parties will likely demand before any coalition negotiations. ACT is in the current coalition government, but a campaign pledge is a bid for the next term and would require partner agreement after the election.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.