What changed in New Zealand

New international crypto reporting rules land 1 April 2026, offshore holdings are about to become far more visible to Inland Revenue

Crypto tax and legal status

Foreign crypto gains built up before you moved are covered by the transitional resident exemption, sell within your first 4 years and it is tax-free

Crypto tax and legal status

Inland Revenue treats crypto as property, every disposal, including swapping one coin for another, is taxed as ordinary income at up to 39 percent

Crypto tax and legal status

Incorporating in New Zealand does not stop your company being a Dutch taxpayer too, if you keep running it from a Dutch kitchen table

Permanent establishment risk

Getting dividends out to a non-resident shareholder costs 0, 15 or 30 percent in withholding tax depending on your shareholding and imputation

Moving your company

The imputation credit system stops double taxation for New Zealand-resident shareholders, but a non-resident Dutch owner cannot use it the same way

Moving your company

New Zealand runs a flat 28 percent company tax rate, no brackets, no size-based reduced rate

Moving your company

Every New Zealand company needs at least one director who actually lives in New Zealand, or in Australia while also directing an Australian company

Moving your company

Registering a New Zealand company is a fast, fully online process through the Companies Register

Moving your company

Any employer, of any size, can now dismiss a genuinely new employee within 90 days without facing an unjustified dismissal claim

Dismissal protection

Sick leave is 10 paid days a year after a 6-month qualifying period, up from 5 days before July 2021

Sick leave

The adult minimum wage is NZD 23.95 an hour from 1 April 2026, reviewed and reset every year

Employment law

ACC covers accidents regardless of your visa status, it does not cover getting sick, that boundary trips people up constantly

Healthcare coverage

Public healthcare is not automatic, you need a work visa valid for 2 years or more, residence, or citizenship to qualify

Healthcare coverage

The default KiwiSaver rate is 3.5 percent matched by your employer, climbing to 4 percent by 2028, with a capped government top-up

Social security

KiwiSaver is voluntary, not a mandatory pension, though most new employees are automatically enrolled and have to actively opt out

Social security

The ACC earner's levy is 1.75 percent for the 2026/27 year, up from 1.60 percent just two years earlier, and it is capped at NZD 156,641 of earnings

Social security

ACC gives you no-fault accident cover the moment you are injured in New Zealand, in exchange for giving up the right to sue

Social security

New Zealand has no payroll-funded social security system, benefits and NZ Super run on general taxation and residence tests

Social security

Cashing out or transferring a Dutch pension pot has its own parallel 4-year exemption, separate from the general transitional resident rules

Pension

Once you are a full New Zealand tax resident, your Dutch AOW or company pension becomes taxable New Zealand income, transitional residents get a temporary pass

Pension

Your Dutch AOW record is not lost on a move, a 1990 agreement (revised 2000) lets you combine Dutch and New Zealand residence periods

Pension

Qualifying for NZ Superannuation now needs up to 20 years of New Zealand residence, not the 10 years older guides still describe

Pension

GST sits at a flat 15 percent, and you must register once your turnover passes NZD 60,000 in a 12-month period

Personal income tax

Short visits paid by your Dutch employer may escape New Zealand tax entirely, general guidance points to under 92 days, treaty relief potentially to under 183

Personal income tax

The Revenue Account Method can cut FIF tax sharply, if you clear a five-year non-residence test this report cannot check

Personal income tax

The FIF de minimis threshold may be rising to NZD 100,000 from 1 April 2026, but this research could not confirm whether that change has actually taken effect

Personal income tax

Foreign share portfolios over NZD 50,000 cost get taxed on a notional return, not on what they actually paid you, and this is the most commonly missed rule in this corridor

Personal income tax

The bright-line test is now 2 years, not the 5 or 10 years a lot of older content still quotes

Personal income tax

New Zealand genuinely has no comprehensive capital gains tax, but three specific carve-outs claw back a lot of what that phrase suggests

Personal income tax

You cannot claim Working for Families and keep your transitional resident exemption, and the choice is permanent once you apply

Personal income tax

Year five is a cliff, not a slope, worldwide taxation starts the month the exemption ends with no step-up in asset values

Personal income tax

New migrants get a 4-year exemption on most foreign income, and it is a one-time lifetime benefit worth planning around before you arrive

Personal income tax

The real 2026 income tax brackets are 10.5, 17.5, 30, 33 and 39 percent, not the pre-July-2024 thresholds still floating around online

Personal income tax

A brand new 'non-resident visitor' status lets you spend up to 275 days in New Zealand over 18 months without becoming tax resident, as long as your income comes from outside New Zealand

Tax residency

If both New Zealand and the Netherlands treat you as tax resident at once, the 1980 treaty's Article 4 (as amended in 2001) is supposed to settle it

Tax residency

Leaving New Zealand does not end your tax residence, you need both no permanent place of abode and 325 days away

Tax residency

Keeping a place where you usually live in New Zealand can make you tax resident even if you never hit 183 days

Tax residency

Spend more than 183 days in New Zealand in any 12-month period and you become tax resident from day one of that count

Tax residency

From 24 August 2026 a new Trades and Technician pathway and red and amber occupation lists reshape parts of the Skilled Migrant Category

Right to work

The old NZD 29.66 an hour median wage requirement for AEWV roles is gone, since 10 March 2025 it is minimum wage plus a market-rate expectation

Right to work

The Accredited Employer Work Visa needs your employer to hold accreditation and pass a job check before you apply

Right to work

The Skilled Migrant Category needs 6 points, but almost all of them now come from your income or qualifications, not a complex matrix

Right to work

Since 27 January 2025, an ordinary New Zealand visitor visa or NZeTA lets you work remotely for your Dutch employer with no separate work visa

Right to work

Dutch citizens aged 18 to 30 can get a genuine 12-month right to work on the Netherlands Working Holiday Visa

Immigration and visa

Dutch passport holders do not need a visa for New Zealand, but they do need a paid NZeTA before boarding

Immigration and visa