The Tax Reset: Citizen’s Income, Land Value Tax and KiwiSaver 2.0

A tax-free payment set at the current Jobseeker rate, $19,400 a year, paid fortnightly to every citizen and resident aged 18 and over. The document is explicit that it comes with no forms, no Work and Income appointments and no relationship status checks, and that at that level it is not enough to live on by itself.

28 percent up to $50,000, 34 percent from $50,001 to $200,000, and 39 percent above that. The document says anyone earning under $60,000 would pay less income tax than the Citizen’s Income they receive.

Rather than means-tested benefits, a set of universal supports applied for through My IRD or MyMSD and approved automatically if the criteria are met. Each abates by 10 cents in the dollar once household income passes somewhere between $50,000 and $75,000.

• Child Support Income, highest in a child’s first year — $18,250 for a first child, $17,250 for each subsequent — falling to $7,750 and $6,750 for years 4 to 18
• An extra $9,500 a year for sole parents
• A disability allowance of $6,000
• Superannuitant top-ups of $10,000 for a single person, or $5,250 in total for a couple
• Housing Support Income set regionally, averaging $10,500 for families and $6,500 for couples and singles

An annual charge on the unimproved value of land — explicitly not the buildings or other improvements on it. The stated intent is to make land banking expensive and dense development comparatively cheaper, since the bill does not rise when you build. Urban land values are already assessed in council rating valuations; the document says rural land is harder to value, which is why its rate is lower.

Superannuitants could defer the whole of the tax until the property is sold. Farmers would get a more limited deferral, on the grounds that farm income is exposed to global prices and weather.

A new compulsory scheme, entirely separate from the existing voluntary KiwiSaver, which would remain as a supplementary option. Contributions build to 12 percent of gross earnings, split evenly between employee and employer.

• Balances could not be withdrawn for hardship or a first-home deposit, unlike current KiwiSaver
• Instead, bank lending against the balance would be enabled for first home buyers
• Existing KiwiSaver holders could move funds across if they chose
• Once fully phased in, the whole 12 percent would be exempt from income tax, and fund income tax-exempt after twenty years

It would be replaced by the Citizen’s Income plus a top-up bringing the total to current Super rates, and the document states no one relying on it would receive less than now. Longer term, as KiwiSaver 2.0 balances grow, it says that top-up could be reduced for wealthier superannuitants.

The addendum sets out a decade-long pathway rather than a single switch: two years of planning first, then the Citizen’s Income extended to roughly a quarter of the population at a time, beginning with 18 to 29-year-olds, and the Land Value Tax starting at 0.5 percent on urban land only before rising. The party expects land values to fall across the period, with the largest effect before implementation as the market prices the change in.