New Zealand’s 4th largest party pledges zero tax on Bitcoin and crypto after 12 months

A New Zealand political party just made crypto holders an offer most politicians won’t touch: hold your Bitcoin for a year, pay zero tax on the gains. ACT Party Deputy Leader Nicole McKee unveiled the proposal at the CryptoWinter26 event, marking the first time a parliamentary party in the country has rolled out a dedicated crypto policy platform. The six-point plan, titled “Unlocking New Zealand’s Digital Economy,” introduces a 12-month bright-line rule for personal crypto holdings. If you buy Bitcoin or other qualifying digital assets and sit on them for longer than a year, any gains walk away tax-free. Sell before that window closes, and the full weight of New Zealand’s income tax rates, ranging from 10.5% to 39%, still applies. What the policy actually does Under the current system, New Zealand’s Inland Revenue Department treats crypto as property. That means every single disposal, whether it’s a sale, a swap between tokens, or even using crypto to buy a coffee, triggers a taxable event that requires a gain or loss calculation. For the estimated 355,000 New Zealanders transacting roughly $36 billion in crypto, that creates a compliance headache that ranges from annoying to genu...