Proposed Capital Gains Tax Calculator NZ
Speculative: this tax does not exist
New Zealand has no general capital gains tax. Gains on residential property can already be taxed under the bright-line test, and traders are taxed on intention, but there is no broad CGT. This page models a tax that has not been introduced, legislated or announced as government policy. It exists so you can see what such a tax would cost if it were ever introduced at a rate you choose.
The rate is yours to set on the slider. The starting figure is an illustrative round number, not a proposal, and is not attributed to any political party. No numbers on this page describe current New Zealand law, and none should be quoted as though they do.
This calculator models what a general capital gains tax would cost you on an asset sale, if New Zealand introduced one. No such tax exists today. Gains on residential property can already be caught by the bright-line test, and anyone who buys with the intention of resale is already taxable on the profit, but there is no broad capital gains tax on shares, businesses or investment property held long term. Because no rate has been legislated, the rate here is yours to set: move the slider and watch the tax change. You enter what you paid, what you sold for, the costs of buying and selling, and any capital improvements, and the calculator returns the taxable gain and the tax at your chosen rate. Most CGT designs in other countries exempt the family home, and many tax only the gain made after the tax starts rather than the whole history of the asset, so a real scheme would very likely produce a smaller bill than a naive calculation on the full gain. Treat every figure here as an illustration of arithmetic, not a forecast of policy.
A hypothetical figure for a tax that does not exist. It is arithmetic on the rate you chose, not a forecast, a policy costing or advice.
How it works
The taxable gain is the sale price less the purchase price, less the costs of buying and selling, less any capital improvements. The tax is that gain multiplied by the rate you set on the slider. Nothing is indexed for inflation and no exemption is applied, because no scheme exists to define them.
Worked example
A property bought for $650,000 and sold for $890,000 is a gross gain of $240,000. Subtract $28,000 of buying and selling costs and $45,000 of capital improvements and the taxable gain is $167,000. At a rate of 15 percent the tax would be $25,050, leaving $141,950, which is about 10.4 percent of the gross gain.
Related calculators
- Bright-Line Test Calculator: the property gains tax NZ actually has.
- Capital Gains Yield Calculator: the return on an investment, before any tax.
- Proposed Asset Tax Calculator: a hypothetical tax on net wealth.
- Proposed Land Tax Calculator: a hypothetical tax on land value.
- All Proposed Tax Calculators: the full speculative category, and what New Zealand actually taxes.