New Zealand

New top personal tax rate

The New Zealand government legislated a new income tax rate of 39% on income over 180,000 New Zealand dollars (NZD). The rate came into force on 1 April 2021.

This change impacted rates on fringe benefit tax (FBT), employer superannuation contribution tax (ESCT), retirement savings scheme contributions (RSCT), residential land withholding tax (RLWT), and resident withholding tax (RWT) (excluding dividends) and introduces new trustee annual return requirements.

Double taxation agreements (DTAs)

New Zealand is currently negotiating new and updating DTAs with several countries, including Austria, Belgium, Fiji, Korea, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Saudi Arabia, the Slovak Republic, and the United Kingdom.

See the Significant developments section in the Corporate tax summary for a summary of the effect of the Multilateral Instrument (MLI) on New Zealand’s DTAs.