Opportunity’s 'tax reset' could benefit many, but not poorest
An analysis of New Zealand's Opportunity Party's "tax reset" proposal, which features a universal basic income (UBI) and supplementary payments funded by a land tax. The article examines how the policy aims to address common UBI design flaws but also highlights potential drawbacks, especially regarding its impact on the poorest citizens.
Why it matters
This policy analysis is significant as it scrutinizes a major proposal from a political party potentially entering parliament, impacting New Zealand's welfare system, taxation, and economic equity. It offers insights into the feasibility and potential consequences of a UBI model.
Analysis: With the Opportunity Party on the cusp of the 5% threshold to make it into parliament after the November 7 election, its signature "tax reset" proposal deserves close attention. <b>By Michael Fletcher for The Conversation</b> The policy is essentially a universal basic income (or "citizen’s income"), with a range of supplementary payments replacing current welfare benefits and NZ Super, funded by a land tax. Opportunity presents its reset as a solution to New Zealand’s welfare problems. But is it really? Most universal basic income (UBI) proposals fall down on two major design problems. They fail to provide enough income for all but the simplest household types. And they typically require implausibly high income tax rates to pay it. <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/08/15/what-are-the-opportunity-partys-land-tax-and-citizens-income/">Opportunity’s policy</a> aims to get around the first problem by including additional payments on top of the UBI.
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