ACT New Zealand proposes tax-free gains on some digital assets held over a year
The proposal would exempt qualifying personal investments held over a year, while professional and business trading remains taxable.
On August 27, 2026, New Zealand’s ACT party published a six-part digital-finance policy that includes a proposed tax change for long-term digital-asset investors. The proposal has not become law.
Under ACT’s published policy, gains on qualifying personal digital-asset investments held for more than 12 months would not be taxed. Qualifying investments sold within 12 months would remain taxable, while professional traders and businesses would continue under existing rules. ACT does not describe this as a blanket tax exemption for every Bitcoin or crypto transaction.
Other parts of the proposal
ACT also proposes an exemption for low-value purchases made with digital assets, but its policy does not specify a monetary threshold. Its other measures include a framework for qualifying payment stablecoins, clearer rules for tokenized assets, a supervised financial-innovation sandbox, and a review of banking access for legitimate digital-finance firms.
What applies now
Inland Revenue says proceeds from selling, trading, or exchanging cryptoassets are taxable in most cases, depending on the taxpayer’s activity and purpose. A holding period of more than 12 months does not by itself provide an exemption under the current guidance.
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In April 2026, Inland Revenue said it had identified 355,000 unique cryptoasset users in New Zealand, around 57 million transactions, and $36 billion in transaction value. Those are activity figures, not a count of voters or an estimate of support for ACT’s proposal.