What's in the Greens' 2026 Tax Plan

The Green Party released its tax platform on 21 June, proposing a 2.5 percent wealth tax on net assets above $2 million, a $10,000 tax-free threshold for income earners, and a guaranteed minimum income of $385 per week after tax for every New Zealander, according to the party's policy document at greens.org.nz/fairtax2026.

The plan has three main parts. The wealth tax targets rich households. The income tax changes help people in the middle. The guaranteed minimum income sets a floor at the bottom.

How the wealth tax works

The wealth tax applies to net assets — so if you own a house worth $1 million but have a $300,000 mortgage, the tax applies only to the $700,000 in equity. It doesn't count borrowed money. The Greens would also introduce a capital gains tax (tax on profit when you sell an investment) and a land value tax alongside it. New Zealand currently has neither.

The tricky question with wealth taxes is how people pay them, especially those who own valuable assets but don't have much cash on hand — think a farmer with land worth millions but limited income. They might need to sell assets or borrow money to cover the bill. The party hasn't published detailed plans for how that would work.

Income tax changes

At the bottom end, the $10,000 tax-free threshold means no tax on the first $10,000 of income. New Zealand currently taxes income from the first dollar earned, so this is a significant change. Everyone who earns gets the same dollar benefit, but it helps lower earners more because it makes up a bigger portion of their total income.

At the top end, there's a small rate increase for those earning $160,000 or more. The party says 96 percent of New Zealanders would pay less income tax overall under these settings. That figure covers most wage and salary workers and most benefit recipients — the top 4 percent threshold sits well above what a typical household earns.

The guaranteed minimum income

The Income Guarantee of $385 per week after tax would apply to every New Zealander, not just those on benefits. Think of it as setting a floor: no one's income falls below that level. Currently, it sits above the base rate of most working-age benefits but below what you'd earn on the minimum wage working 40 hours a week. So for someone working full-time minimum wage, the practical effect is small. For someone doing part-time or casual work, or not working at all, it could matter.

The party frames this as a structural reform — a basic change to how the system works — rather than just tweaking the benefit levels.

The broader political context

The Greens are currently in opposition. To make these changes law, they'd need support in Parliament, and right now they don't have a clear path to that without a change of government. What the plan does do is stake out a distinct fiscal position ahead of the likely 2026 election — one that differs materially from Labour's tax settings and National's — and forces the two larger parties to respond to proposals about wealth taxation that neither has been willing to champion.

The wealth tax question in particular will need careful scrutiny from fiscal analysts. A net wealth levy, capital gains tax, and land value tax all at once creates overlapping complexity. How they work together in practice — and how much revenue they actually raise — matters to whether the numbers add up.