The Taxpayers' Union is slamming Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s dismissal of inflation-indexing income tax thresholds as “not on our radar”, saying it shows the Government is happy to keep profiting from bracket creep.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tyler Groenewald said:

“Luxon is choosing an inflation tax over simple cost-of-living relief. Bracket creep lets the Government quietly take more from workers whose pay has not even kept up with rising prices. It is a tax increase by stealth."

"Kiwis shouldn't be punished for inflation caused by years of excessive Government spending. When prices go up, the Government shouldn't get an automatic tax windfall at workers' expense."

"If the Government is serious about helping with the cost of living, inflation-indexing tax thresholds should be at the top of the agenda, not 'off the radar'."

The Taxpayers’ Union’s January 2026 report, Robbing Peter To Pay Paul’s Doctor: Why Indexing Tax Thresholds Makes More Sense, is available at https://www.taxpayers.org.nz/indexing_tax_thresholds

Responding to the Prime Minister floating a potential bed tax on Newstalk ZB this morning, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf said:

“The Prime Minister needs to categorically rule out slapping domestic travellers with yet another tax.

“Make no mistake: a bed tax won’t just hit overseas tourists staying in flash hotels. If it applies to domestic travellers, it would hit Kiwis staying at DOC campsites or the local TOP 10 holiday park."

“Previous research by Tourism Industry Aotearoa found only 30 percent of international visitors stay in commercial accommodation. That means a bed tax risks falling mostly on Kiwis, not tourists."

“New Zealanders travelling around their own country, whether for work, family, or holidays, should not be caught up in a tourist tax."

“If the Government wants to target international visitors, it should say so clearly. But domestic travellers must be off the table.”

Responding to comments made today by Labour leader Chris Hipkins, the Taxpayers’ Union claims it is hypocritical of him to create new taxes on property ownership while using a taxpayer-funded superannuation scheme to finance his own holiday home.

Taxpayers’ Union spokeswoman, Ella Dickson, says:

“Chris Hipkins – like all MP’s – has a generous superannuation scheme with every $1 he puts in matched $2.50 by his employer (taxpayer-funded), which he admits contributes to the mortgage of his family’s holiday home. A second dwelling that would be considered taxable under the bracket of his proposed capital gains tax, yet taxpayers fund it.”

“Hipkins can claim owning a holiday home is different than owning multiple rental properties, but when his CGT sees no difference and taxes them both the same: where does he draw the line? He claimed not to ‘begrudge’ other Kiwis who own holiday homes, he just taxes them for it.”

“The Labour leader today admitted to getting the maximum entitlement from the taxpayer. When asked if it was ‘fair’, he said his goal was to ‘raise the wages of all New Zealanders’, but taxing them will not help in that mission. If Hipkins wants a fairer economy, he should start with his own benefits and his own tax policy.”

Commenting on Finance Minister Nicola Willis’ decision to introduce a new tax - sorry, ‘levy’ - on banks and deposit takers in Budget 2026, Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf said:

“Minister Willis’ ‘no new taxes’ promise is now dead. As much as the Beehive are trying to frame it as a levy on the big banks, make no mistake that this new tax will be paid by savers and mortgage holders. It’s a sleight of the hand.”

“Any so-called levy designed to recover $209 million over four years will be felt at the very time savers and mortgage holders are set to be hammered. Comparisons to the UK and Australia demonstrate this this is nothing more than a naked tax grab.”

“Once again, our political class have taken the easy option to tax harder, rather than make the tough but necessary reductions in spending to ensure Kiwis have the best incentives to invest and save.”

The Taxpayers' Union is telling Dame Therese Walsh to put her money where her mouth is and make a donation to the IRD before she grandstands about wanting higher taxes.

Speaking to Radio NZ's "30 with Guyon" the Air New Zealand Chair, Walsh suggests that New Zealand needs a tax system better at "picking people up" and is personally "happy to pay a higher tax rate because I earn more than the average Kiwi”, going on to say "I think I should contribute more, and that's what I'm happy to do.”

Taxpayers’ Union Executive Director Jordan Williams said:

"This is the sort of woke business ‘leadership' that makes us all poorer.  Instead of standing up for entrepreneurship, competitive markets, and tax policy that allows Kiwis to get ahead, Dame Walsh wants an even bigger state, and higher taxes."

"We wonder why New Zealand businesses under-perform. Perhaps if the likes of Walsh took more of an interested in fighting for economic opportunity rather than falling over themselves for Guyon Espiner and RNZ to like them, New Zealand would get ahead."

"I guess Walsh's point of view is understandable when your career is based on quasi-protected business like banking, or chairing an airline dependant on taxpayer handouts. Dame Therese has many admirable achievements, but economic expertise is not among them."

"What make Walsh's comments particularly galling is that she is rumoured to be lobbying for the role as the next Governor General.  These political comments – calling for New Zealanders to be taxed even harder, right on the eve of an election year budget – demonstrate why she is totally unsuitable for the constitutional appointment.”

"Craig Stobo was recently sacked for similar political comments – but at least the FMA isn't losing taxpayer money like the airline which Walsh chairs."

"Walsh sounded a lot like Jacinda Ardern in couching higher taxes around aroha and 'lifting people up'.  Say that to the average income earner who is struggling to afford the groceries let alone the cost of an Air NZ flight in recent years."

"The only thing Walsh achieves in that interview is Labour's endorsement to be Governor General. Clearly that's what she set out to achieve."

The New Zealand Taxpayers' Union has today released a new report, Green with Envy: Wealth, Death, and Trust Taxes Examined, exposing the real-world impact of the Green Party's proposed $17 billion tax grab. The report finds the policies would hit far more than the super-wealthy, catching homeowners, farmers, retirees, and small business owners across the country.

Taxpayers’ Union Policy Analyst, Austin Ellingham-Banks, said:

"The Greens are proposing one of the most aggressive tax regimes of its kind anywhere in the developed world, resulting in a broad-based raid on Kiwis who’ve worked hard, saved, and built something over a lifetime."

"The idea this only hits the wealthy simply doesn't stack up. One in five Kiwi homes is held in a trust, and the Greens would tax those assets from the first dollar. In Auckland, that means an annual bill of over $18,000 on a mortgage-free family home, or $3,600 for first home buyers with a 20 percent deposit."

"And it doesn't stop there. A 33 percent death tax would force many families to sell farms, homes, or businesses just to pay the bill. Inheriting the average dairy farm would trigger a $1.2 million tax bill. There is nothing fair about taxing grief, or taxing the same income again when it's earned, saved, and finally passed on."

"Most countries that have tried wealth taxes have scrapped them because they drive investment and talent offshore. Death taxes are even worse, New Zealand tried one and abandoned it in 1993 because it crushed farming families and raised almost nothing."

“This package is light on evidence, heavy on populism, and green with envy.”

Responding to reports the Government is considering additional financial support for families during the fuel crisis, the Taxpayers’ Union says any new support for families must be fully funded through spending cuts elsewhere, not more borrowing.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesperson Tory Relf said:

“Families are under real pressure from rising fuel costs, but throwing borrowed money at the problem will only make the cost-of-living crisis worse. More deficit spending risks driving inflation higher and keeping interest rates elevated.”

“If ministers want to provide support during the fuel crisis, it must be fully funded by reprioritising the billions currently being wasted across the public sector.”

“New Zealand cannot afford another Grant Robertson-style ‘spend now, worry later’ response. Kiwis are still dealing with the consequences of that approach.”

“Government debt is already at $140,000 per household, according to the national Debt Clock. Helping families today shouldn’t mean saddling them with more debt tomorrow. The Government should be tightening its belt and reallocating spending, not reaching for the credit card again.”

Responding to reports that Auckland Council has secured a formal commitment to consider a bed tax, New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Josh Van Veen said:

“The Government should categorically rule out slapping Kiwis with yet another tax during the worst cost-of-living crisis in recent memory. Families and businesses are already stretched to breaking point. The last thing they need is another tax grab.

“Make no mistake: a ‘bed tax’ won’t just hit tourists. It will land squarely on the shoulders of New Zealanders travelling domestically for work, family, or holidays.

“Previous research by Tourism Industry Aotearoa found that only 30 percent of international visitors stay in commercial accommodation, meaning the majority of this tax would be paid by Kiwis, not tourists.

“If councils are so desperate to attract concerts and sporting events, they should start by reprioritising their bloated spending rather than reaching into taxpayers’ pockets yet again.”

The Taxpayers' Union is correcting David Seymour's reported comments that a temporary cut to fuel tax - as called for by the Taxpayers' Union - would necessarily widen the deficit and result in more borrowing.

"With the greatest respect to David, the Taxpayers' Union is not calling for unfunded tax relief," said Taxpayers' Union Executive Director Jordan Williams.

"What we called for was scrapping the successor to the wasteful 'Provincial Growth Fund' and for those funds to be redirected into the National Land Transport Fund. That would deliver temporary tax relief at the pump without it affecting the deficit, or reducing investment in transport infrastructure.”

“Currently, taxes and levies make up more than 44 percent of the price you pay at the pump. But the only true tax cut is to reduce spending. The Regional Infrastructure Fund has proven wasteful with grants for things such as $10 million to a Bay of Plenty Marae. It is precisely the sort of low priority spending that should be scrapped."

The New Zealand Taxpayers’ Union is calling on the Government to temporarily cut fuel taxes as global tensions in the Middle East drive oil prices higher and push petrol prices above $3 per litre in many parts of the country.

Taxpayers’ Union spokesman Jordan Williams says households should not be forced to shoulder the full cost of global instability.

“Petrol prices are surging past $3 a litre in many parts of the country. At a time when households are already struggling with the cost of living, the Government needs to wear some of the burden rather than lumping it all on motorists.”

“Kiwis can’t control wars overseas, but the Government controls how much tax we pay at the pump. When petrol hits three dollars a litre, it’s working families and small businesses that feel it first.”

Williams says a temporary reduction in fuel excise would provide immediate relief.

“Reducing fuel tax is a proven way to support households when global fuel prices spike. In 2022, Jacinda Ardern’s Government cut fuel excise by 25 cents per litre to ease the cost-of-living crisis caused by soaring oil prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.”

“A similar three-month reduction today would cost roughly $350 million in foregone revenue to the National Land Transport Fund, the same order of magnitude as the 2022 policy.”

Williams says the relief could easily be funded by reprioritising wasteful spending.

“With billions of dollars being funnelled through schemes like the Regional Infrastructure Fund — which is fast looking like a Provincial Growth Fund 2.0 — the Government has plenty of room to fund temporary relief for motorists.”

“Redirecting wasteful spending into the National Land Transport Fund would allow the Government to provide fuel tax relief while still maintaining investment in transport infrastructure.”

“Global oil shocks shouldn’t become an excuse for the Government to collect windfall tax revenue. When fuel prices spike, taxpayers deserve relief.”