National rules out bed tax and bank tax, leaves fuel excise unanswered
The National Party has promised no new taxes if re-elected in November 2026. Finance spokesperson Nicola Willis confirmed the party would keep investing in front-line services while ruling out additional levies or charges on taxpayers.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon had previously raised three possible new taxes: a bed tax, a bank tax, and a fuel excise increase. The 23 August announcement ruled out the first two but said nothing about the third, leaving the fuel excise question open.
National has scrapped the idea of an accommodation levy on short-term rentals like bed and breakfasts. Willis said a bed tax would only hit people booking weekends away, and the party would instead look at existing tools to help councils manage tourism costs. The party also ruled out a bank tax outright.
Willis framed the pledge as a contrast with Labour, saying the opposition had left the door open to introducing more taxes than its proposed capital gains tax — a tax on the profit made when selling assets like investment properties. Luxon said taxes would be a "defining theme" of the election.
The partial nature of the announcement is worth noting. By ruling out the bed tax and the bank tax but not addressing the fuel excise increase, National has left a live question on the table going into the campaign. Fuel excise is a per-litre tax added to petrol and diesel purchases, and it is a major source of transport funding for the government. Any increase — or a commitment not to increase it — has direct implications for the Crown accounts, especially given the transport infrastructure funding pressures that have troubled successive governments.
For those who follow politics, the positioning is familiar. Tax pledges have been a feature of National's campaign messaging across multiple elections, and the "no new taxes" formulation deliberately echoes previous commitments. The difference this time is how specific the party has been about what it has ruled out versus what it has not. Luxon himself put the three options into the public domain; the party has now closed off two of three.
The decision to scrap the accommodation levy also has implications for local government. Councils in tourism-heavy regions have long argued for a visitor levy to recover the infrastructure costs that come with high visitor numbers. Willis's preference for "existing mechanisms" signals National will work within the current local government funding framework rather than creating a new revenue stream for councils. That stance will draw attention from mayors and councils already dealing with pressure from ratepayers.
Labour's proposed capital gains tax remains the most concrete tax policy on the opposing side. Willis's suggestion that Labour may go further than that single proposal is a political argument rather than a confirmed policy — a framing designed to widen the perceived gap between the two parties on tax.
What remains unaddressed is the fuel excise question. Luxon named it as one of three possibilities. The party's announcement did not rule it in or out. For a government seeking re-election on a no-new-taxes platform, that silence is the detail worth watching.
