ACT
Policies by size
Each bar is a policy's four-year cost. Bars are drawn to the same scale.
Remove tax on KiwiSaver investment earnings+$4.08bSuper & KiwiSaverPartymedium
ACT year-by-year: 873 (27/28), 965 (28/29), 1067 (29/30), 1177 (30/31); annual = 4-yr average. Announced 4 Oct 2026 at campaign launch. Seymour: reduces revenue by ~$1b/yr. Safeguards against sheltering large portfolios are undefined. No independent costing yet.
SourceEnd KiwiSaver Government Contribution for members receiving employer contributions−$2.59bSuper & KiwiSaverPartymedium
Herald reports ~$2.6b over 4 yrs. Set to -2586 so the package nets to ACT's stated $2.396b over 4 yrs. Annual = 4-yr average.
SourceRemove tax on earnings in other (non-KiwiSaver) superannuation funds+$900mSuper & KiwiSaverPartymedium
ACT: $193m in 2027/28; ~$0.9b over 4 yrs (NZ Herald). Annual = 4-yr average.
Source$6/day infrastructure surcharge on temporary work visas−$320mOtherPartymedium
ACT: ~$80m a year; 4-yr = 4x. Not in TU tally.
SourceLocal Tourism Dividend: $1 per commercial guest night to councils+$162mEconomy & businessPartyhigh
ACT: ~$40.6m/yr on 2026 guest nights, with per-council amounts. 4-yr = 4x, no growth.
SourceLift medicines share of health budget 1pp a year to Australian parity by 2033 (Pharmac)$0mHealthPartymedium
TU: midpoint of ACT's own year-by-year projections. ACT: ~$320m extra in yr 1, funded from expected growth in the health budget (no new tax, no cut to the rest of health). TU counts $0 for that reason. Recorded as within the PREFU health allowance, so the full amount sits in in_baseline. [Audit 2026-10-06: cost_source changed from independent to party. The $1.9b is ACT's own year-by-year projection; the Taxpayers' Union tags it (t), meaning party costing taken at face value.]
Source| Policy | 4-yr | Source | Confidence | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Remove tax on KiwiSaver investment earningsSuper & KiwiSaverACT year-by-year: 873 (27/28), 965 (28/29), 1067 (29/30), 1177 (30/31); annual = 4-yr average. Announced 4 Oct 2026 at campaign launch. Seymour: reduces revenue by ~$1b/yr. Safeguards against sheltering large portfolios are undefined. No independent costing yet. Source | +$4.08b | Party | medium | |
End KiwiSaver Government Contribution for members receiving employer contributionsSuper & KiwiSaverHerald reports ~$2.6b over 4 yrs. Set to -2586 so the package nets to ACT's stated $2.396b over 4 yrs. Annual = 4-yr average. Source | −$2.59b | Party | medium | |
Remove tax on earnings in other (non-KiwiSaver) superannuation fundsSuper & KiwiSaverACT: $193m in 2027/28; ~$0.9b over 4 yrs (NZ Herald). Annual = 4-yr average. Source | +$900m | Party | medium | |
$6/day infrastructure surcharge on temporary work visasOtherACT: ~$80m a year; 4-yr = 4x. Not in TU tally. Source | −$320m | Party | medium | |
Local Tourism Dividend: $1 per commercial guest night to councilsEconomy & businessACT: ~$40.6m/yr on 2026 guest nights, with per-council amounts. 4-yr = 4x, no growth. Source | +$162m | Party | high | |
| +$2m | Party | medium | ||
Lift medicines share of health budget 1pp a year to Australian parity by 2033 (Pharmac)HealthTU: midpoint of ACT's own year-by-year projections. ACT: ~$320m extra in yr 1, funded from expected growth in the health budget (no new tax, no cut to the rest of health). TU counts $0 for that reason. Recorded as within the PREFU health allowance, so the full amount sits in in_baseline. [Audit 2026-10-06: cost_source changed from independent to party. The $1.9b is ACT's own year-by-year projection; the Taxpayers' Union tags it (t), meaning party costing taken at face value.] Already in current plans: $1.90b Source | $0m | Party | medium |
Analysis notes
ACT: 2026 fiscal position (as at 6 Oct 2026)
Status: ACT's full fiscal plan (Alternative Budget) has not been released yet (re-checked 6 Oct: nothing new on act.org.nz/news since the 4 Oct launch). Seymour said on 4–5 Oct it would come out "the following week" (Newsroom; RNZ). This file covers only the policies announced so far. Election day is 7 Nov 2026.
Headline
- Flagship tax cut: no tax on KiwiSaver and super-fund earnings ($4.1b + $0.9b over 4 years), part-funded by ending the Government Contribution for members who get employer contributions (about -$2.6b). Net $2.396b over 4 years on ACT's own figures, or about $1b/yr of lost revenue (interest.co.nz; NZ Herald).
- Spending cuts announced so far are small: repeal the Zero Carbon Act and abolish the Climate Change Commission (~$15m/yr), and a $6/day visa surcharge (+$80m/yr revenue). The larger cuts are expected in the Alternative Budget: consolidating 43 departments into 19 (ACT) and welfare tightening (ACT), both uncosted. ACT claims "$14b" of savings this term.
- Climate: return all net ETS auction revenue as a Carbon Tax Refund, remove the auction price floor, and restore industrial allocation (ACT).
Total net cost (from policies_act.csv, schema v2, 2027/28–2030/31)
- Total announced: +$4.85b over 4 years. Of this, $1.9b is the Pharmac medicines-share path, which ACT says comes out of expected health baseline growth (
in_baseline_nzd_m). - All rows are operating; there are no capital items. Every row is a firm pledge.
- New spending view: +$2.95b over 4 years. About 80% of that is the KiwiSaver package.
- Taxpayers' Union Bribe-O-Meter (to ~1 Oct, spending only, before the KiwiSaver policy): $710m over 4 years, the lowest of any party (TU).
Funding
ACT says the Alternative Budget will show how the ~$1b/yr revenue cut is funded. No offsets have been published yet beyond the Government Contribution saving.
Criticisms and alternative costings
- Most of the KiwiSaver tax relief goes to people with large balances and higher incomes (interest.co.nz and Herald coverage).
- TU had to cost most of ACT's smaller policies itself (carbon refund $407m, three strikes $192m excluding prison beds, pharmacy $92m minimum).
Key uncertainties
- The Alternative Budget is unpublished. It is expected to include public-service cuts and possibly the long-held goal of raising the NZ Super age to 67. Seymour has said that would be confirmed in the budget; NZ First rules it out (1News 2023; Newsroom). For scale, ACT's 2023 budget put a 3-months-a-year rise at $0 / $0.34b / $0.72b / $1.14b in years 1–4 (ACT 2023 PDF). It is not in the CSV.
- Carbon refund cost depends on auction clearing (2026 auctions failed at the $71 floor).
- No income tax rate cuts have been announced for 2026. KPMG lists ACT as favouring a 28% top rate with an undeclared second rate (KPMG tracker), but this is uncosted.