New Zealand's ACT Party Proposes Tax Waiver on Long-Held Crypto
ACT's plan would scrap capital gains tax on crypto held over a year for retail investors and exempt small purchases. It's a campaign pledge, not a bill.
New Zealand's ACT party wants to scrap capital gains tax on crypto held for more than a year, a plan aimed at retail investors that would leave professional traders under existing rules.
The Association of Consumers and Taxpayers, the fourth-largest party in Parliament with 11 seats, announced the proposal on Thursday as part of its campaign platform. The right-wing party said the tax break would apply only to individual retail investors. Businesses and professional traders stay subject to current tax treatment, and assets sold within a year remain taxed.
ACT also proposed exempting small personal purchases made with crypto from tax, a step the party said would help digital assets work as a means of payment. Other elements of the plan include a regulatory and tax framework for payment stablecoins, rules for tokenized securities and real-world assets, a sandbox for startups testing new products, and a review of whether crypto businesses have been excluded from the financial system.
Deputy ACT Leader Nicole McKee said in the party's announcement on Thursday that "with clear rules, sensible safeguards, and less red tape, ACT will unlock New Zealand's Digital economy and help Kiwis invest, build, and transact with confidence in a modern, competitive economy."
New Zealand's previous central bank governor opposed stablecoins. The government has introduced a bill to implement the OECD's Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), a data-sharing standard for tax authorities.
In its pledge, ACT said it wants New Zealand to become "a trusted home for digital finance, modern capital markets and financial innovation." The proposal is a campaign pledge, not a bill.
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