Destinations · New Zealand
New Zealand
Walk in with no visa, no CGT, and 4 tax-free years on foreign income, 3 hours away.
Tax regime
Australia treaty
Flight from Sydney
Timezone
How New Zealand taxes youindicative
New Zealand taxes residents on worldwide income at progressive rates to 39%, but two features make it interesting. First, there is no general capital gains tax: long-term share and property gains (outside the bright-line rules and trader status) are simply untaxed. Second, new migrants who have not been NZ tax resident for 10 years get the transitional resident exemption: roughly four years in which most foreign-source income (Australian rent, dividends, interest) is exempt from NZ tax. The catch for portfolios is the FIF regime, which taxes a deemed return on foreign shares over NZ$50k... though ASX-listed Australian companies are largely exempt from it. Full treaty, and the closest exit that still counts as leaving.
- Salary
- Progressive 10.5, 39%. No tax-free threshold at all (the first dollar is taxed) but effective rates at middle incomes land close to Australia's.
- Capital gains
- No general CGT: long-term share gains untaxed. Exceptions: traders, property inside the bright-line window, and the FIF deemed-return regime on non-ASX foreign shares over NZ$50k.
- Dividends & interest
- Dividends taxed at marginal rates. NZ imputation works like franking; Australian franking credits are NOT usable in NZ, a long-standing trans-Tasman sore point.
- Crypto
- No CGT does not mean crypto-free: IRD treats most crypto as bought with intent to sell, making gains taxable income at marginal rates. The onus of proving otherwise is on you.
- Social security
- No social security tax; ACC earner levy (~1.6%) applies to employment income. KiwiSaver is opt-in for migrants.
Australia has a tax treaty with New Zealand
A treaty gives you two things that matter. First, a tie-breaker: if both countries claim you as a resident, the treaty cascade (permanent home → vital interests → habitual abode → nationality) decides who wins. You can’t simply be fully taxed twice on the same income. Second, reduced withholding on Australian-source income you keep: unfranked dividends at 15% and interest at 10% instead of the default non-treaty rates.
Walk your own facts through the cascade with the Treaty Tie-Breaker tool.
Visa pathways
Every pathway carries a tax-residency consequence, the row most visa guides leave out. A visa gets you in; it doesn’t decide who taxes you.
Trans-Tasman travel arrangement
familyindicativeAustralians receive an Australian Resident Visa on arrival: live, work, study indefinitely. No application, no quota, no conditions.
- Family can come
Timeline: ~0 months from application to arrival
Tax residency: Meeting its conditions makes you tax resident there, usually what you want, because a genuine new tax home is your strongest fact against Australia.
The easiest migration on Earth for an Australian, which cuts both ways: because moving is frictionless and reversible, the ATO looks hard at whether a trans-Tasman move is genuinely permanent. 183 days or a "permanent place of abode" makes you NZ tax resident.
Transitional resident election (tax, not visa)
skilledindicativeNot a visa, the 4-year tax exemption on foreign income that new residents (10+ years away) get automatically. Listed because it IS the pathway decision that matters.
- Family can come
Timeline: ~0 months from application to arrival
Tax residency: Establishes treaty residence you can use in the tie-breaker if Australia argues you never left.
Covers foreign dividends, interest, rent and FIF income, NOT NZ-source income or foreign employment income for work performed while in NZ. One-time only; claiming Working for Families tax credits cancels it for the household.
Active Investor Plus visa
goldenindicativeResidence via NZ$5m+ (weighted toward direct/active investments) over the investment period.
- Investment $4,600,000+
- Family can come
Timeline: ~8 months from application to arrival
Tax residency: Gives you the right to live there without automatically making you tax resident locally, holding the visa proves little to the ATO; actually settling does.
Irrelevant for Australians (Trans-Tasman is free), listed for non-citizen partners who need their own status.
Partner of an Australian pathways
familyindicativeNon-Australian spouses/partners of Australians get straightforward residence routes based on the relationship.
- Family can come
Timeline: ~6 months from application to arrival
Tax residency: Meeting its conditions makes you tax resident there, usually what you want, because a genuine new tax home is your strongest fact against Australia.
The practical issue for mixed-nationality households: the Australian walks in, the partner applies.
What Auckland costsindicative
Typical expat defaults in AUD, the same figures the Break-Even Calculator pre-fills for New Zealand. Treat them as comparison-grade, not budget-grade.
| Rent, family home in Auckland (per month) | est. $3,300indicative |
| Rent, 1, 2br couple/single (per month) | est. $2,300indicative |
| International school (per child, per year) | Free / not applicableindicative |
| Private health, family (per year) | est. $3,000indicative |
| Private health, single (per year) | est. $1,100indicative |
| One-off relocation (movers, flights, deposits) | est. $12,000indicative |
| Return flight home (per person) | est. $500indicative |
| Day-to-day cost index vs Sydney (ex-rent) | 90%indicative |
Honest downsides
- The tax saving is thinner than it looks: no CGT is real, but income rates are Australia-like, there is no tax-free threshold, and salaries are 15, 25% lower for the same role.
- The ATO treats a hop to Auckland with scepticism, same time zone, 3-hour flights, easy return; your "permanent departure" evidence needs to be stronger, not weaker, than for Dubai.
- Auckland housing rivals Sydney for unaffordability, and the cost-of-living basket is not meaningfully cheaper.
- Earthquake and weather-event risk is priced into insurance, and the economy is small, career ceilings arrive quickly outside a few sectors.
What most people miss about New Zealand
- The 4-year transitional exemption does NOT cover foreign employment or services income earned while you sit in NZ, remote work for Australian clients is NZ-taxable from day one.
- Claiming Working for Families credits permanently cancels the household's transitional exemption, a few thousand in credits can cost tens of thousands in exempt foreign income.
- Australian franking credits are worthless in NZ: your franked portfolio's after-tax yield drops the day you become NZ resident (after the transitional window).
- When the exemption ends, the FIF regime taxes a deemed 5% return on non-ASX foreign shareholdings over NZ$50k, even in years the portfolio fell. ASX holdings are largely exempt; restructure before year 4 ends.
- NZ has no CGT but Australia still taxes your TAP and any deferred-election assets, proximity does not change a single Australian rule.
Run your numbers for New Zealand
These open with New Zealand already set as your destination, your answers stay in this browser.