Taxes in New Zealand (tax refund/tax return)

Chapter 6 of 6

In New Zealand, you also pay – often unknowingly – tax on the consumer products you buy.

La GST

GST (Goods and Services Tax) is a value-added tax, equivalent to French VAT. It is 15% and applies to all consumer goods and services, whether imported or not. Apart from gifts and interest, there are few exceptions.
GST is not eligible for the tax refunds that apply to foreign residents. Nor can it be reclaimed on departure on large purchases made shortly beforehand, as is the case in other countries. You can, however, avoid paying this tax on goods purchased in duty-free shops at airports.

In addition to GST, specific taxes apply to certain products.

RUC (Road User Charges)

For vehicles running on petrol, natural gas (NGV) or LPG, tax is deducted directly at the pump. So you don’t need to worry about them. However, if you use an electric vehicle, diesel or another fuel that is not taxed at source, you will have to pay Road User Charges (RUC). Owners of diesel and electric vehicles must purchase kilometres from post offices. A sticker affixed to the windscreen of the vehicle then indicates the mileage up to which the vehicle has paid the RUC. When the vehicle reaches this mileage, new kilometres must be purchased.
On 1 July 2024, the RUC cost NZ$76 per 1,000 kilometres for a vehicle weighing less than 3.5 tonnes.

For more examples visit RUC rates and transactions fees on the site of the Ministry of Transport and for more information on this subject,Road User Charges (RUC).

Rental vehicles are not always affected, as the RUC may or may not already be included in the rental price, depending on the conditions.

Here again, you will not be entitled to reimbursement on RUCs.

Taxes on alcohol and tobacco

Excise duty and other specific taxes exist in New Zealand and, as in many countries, are applied to alcohol and tobacco products in addition to GST.

Unlike GST, excise tax on alcohol is not based on the total price of the product. For certain types of beverage, it is charged according to the volume of pure alcohol in the product and is higher or lower depending on this volume (e.g. beer, spirits containing more than 14% alcohol by volume ABV). For other types of beverage, it is charged according to the total volume of the product (e.g. wine).
For example, for beer containing more than 2.5% alcohol, the excise duty is $31.089 per litre of alcohol. It is therefore the 2.5% of alcohol in the beer that is taxed, not the litre of beer. But for strong spirits such as vodka or whisky, the excise duty is $56.625 per litre of alcohol. Here again, it is the pure alcohol (e.g. 35% alcohol in a vodka) that is taxed. For wine, the total volume of the bottle will be taxed at $3.1089 per litre.

You can find the excise tax rates here.

There is another tax on alcohol levied by the Health Promotion Agency (HPA). This is calculated per litre of drink only. A bottle of wine is taxed at 2.6 cents, a 330 ml can of beer at 0.5 cents, and a litre bottle of spirits at 12.8 cents. The money raised by the HPA tax (around 11.15 million dollars each year) is used to fund the Agence de promotion de la santé to undertake activities aimed at reducing alcohol-related harm.

These two taxes add up and contribute to the relatively high price of alcoholic beverages in New Zealand.

The same kind of tax applies to tobacco, and is rising steadily. The price of tobacco rose by 6.4% on 1 January 2024.) When you buy a packet of cigarettes in New Zealand, 78% of the price of the packet is actually excise duty. A packet of 20 cigarettes costs an average of NZ$38 (NZ$72 for a packet of rolling tobacco).

Check our guide The cost of living in New Zealand for more information.