New Zealand taxes for Brits: residence, the UK treaty and your frozen State Pension

Move to Auckland and Inland Revenue taxes you as a resident, HMRC mostly lets you go, and a four-year break on foreign income softens the landing.

The short version

• You become a New Zealand tax resident after more than 183 days here in any 12 months, or sooner if you have a permanent place of abode here [1].
• Rates run from 10.5% to 39%, with no tax-free personal allowance. The tax year runs from 1 April to 31 March [2].
• Most new arrivals get a temporary tax exemption for about four years on most foreign income, such as UK interest, dividends and rent, but not on pay for work done abroad [3].
• On the UK side, tell HMRC you've left (form P85, or the SA109 pages if you file Self Assessment). UK rent stays taxable in the UK [6].
• Your UK State Pension is paid in New Zealand but not uprated [7], and it's deducted pound for pound from NZ Super if you claim it [9].

Pound conversions use the Bank of England spot rate of 5 November 2026 (£1 = NZD 2.4016).

Are you a New Zealand tax resident?

New Zealand's tests are simpler than the UK's Statutory Residence Test, and they don't depend on your visa [1].

1. The 183-day rule. If you're in New Zealand for more than 183 days in any 12-month period, you're resident, backdated to the first of those days. Part days count as whole days, and the days don't need to be in a row [1].
2. The permanent place of abode test. If you have somewhere you usually live in New Zealand, you're resident from that point, even before 183 days. You don't need to own it. Inland Revenue looks at your ties: family, work, investments and whether you intend to stay [1].

Move to Auckland with a job, a lease and the family, and you'll usually be resident from the day you arrive.

There's a narrow exception for non-resident visitors: people here for up to 275 days in any 18 months who aren't working for New Zealand employers or customers and pay tax at home [1]. It helps remote workers on long visits, not people who've moved.

Leaving again is harder. You only stop being resident if you have no permanent place of abode here and you're away for more than 325 days in a 12-month period [1].

If you're unsure, Inland Revenue has a residence questionnaire (IR886) and a guide (IR292) [1].

New Zealand income tax rates

For comparison, in the UK outside Scotland in 2026/27 the first £12,570 is tax-free, then 20%, 40% and 45% above £125,140 [10]. New Zealand has no personal allowance and no National Insurance, but the ACC earners' levy comes out of your pay to fund accident cover. Most employees are taxed through PAYE, just like at home, so many never file a return. There's no general capital gains tax either, though some property and investment gains are taxed under specific rules.

The four-year break for new migrants

This is the big one for Brits with savings or property back home. If you become a New Zealand tax resident and weren't one at any time in the previous 10 years, you're a transitional resident automatically [3].

What's exempt: most foreign income, including overseas interest, dividends, rent and income under the foreign investment fund (FIF) rules [3]. So the interest on your UK savings and the rent from your flat in Manchester aren't taxed in New Zealand for those four years.

What isn't: pay for employment or services performed overseas [3]. If you keep doing work for a UK employer, you'll need the treaty, not the exemption.

How long: about four years, ending 48 months after the end of the month in which you first qualify as resident [3]. You only get it once.

What ends it early: claiming Working for Families tax credits, putting your exempt income on your IR3 return, or telling Inland Revenue you don't want it [3].

Lump sums from foreign pension schemes have their own four-year rule [3], and the wider treatment of UK pensions and the FIF rules after the four years is a subject in itself. Our guide to KiwiSaver, the FIF rules and your UK pensions covers it. Moving a UK pension to New Zealand needs regulated financial advice; the overseas transfer charge can apply, and transfers attract scams.

Leaving the UK tax system properly

New Zealand taxing you doesn't mean HMRC has finished with you.

1. Tell HMRC. Fill in P85 if you don't normally file Self Assessment, with parts 2 and 3 of your P45. If you do file, complete the residence pages (SA109) with your return [6].
2. Check the Statutory Residence Test for the year you go, and whether split-year treatment applies. Our guide to split-year treatment explains it.
3. Tell the council so you stop paying council tax [6].
4. Keep paying UK tax on UK income where it's due. Rent from a UK property stays taxable in the UK [6]; letting agents or tenants deduct basic-rate tax unless you register for the Non-Resident Landlord Scheme.

New Zealand's tax year (April to March) and the UK's (6 April to 5 April) nearly line up, which makes the year you move less of a headache than in Australia.

The UK–New Zealand tax treaty

The UK and New Zealand have had a double taxation convention since 1983, amended by protocols in 2003 and 2007 [5]. Its job is to stop you paying full tax twice on the same income, and to decide which country gets first go.

There's news on this. A new double taxation convention was signed in London on 1 June 2026, but it isn't in force yet; it takes effect only once both countries finish their legal procedures [5]. Until then, the 1983 convention, as amended, still applies.

In broad terms, as with most UK treaties:

• UK rent can be taxed in the UK, and once your four-year exemption ends, New Zealand taxes it too, with credit for UK tax.
• UK government pensions (for civil servants, teachers and others paid by the state) generally stay taxable in the UK.
• Your UK State Pension: Inland Revenue says that in most cases New Zealand has full taxing rights on pensions. If the UK has taxed it, you can't claim that as a credit in New Zealand; you ask HMRC for a refund and to pay it gross in future [4].

Treaties are detailed, so a tax adviser who knows both countries can check your situation.

Your UK State Pension and NZ Super

Two things catch Brits out here.

It's frozen. GOV.UK lists New Zealand, along with Canada, as a country with a social security agreement with the UK where you cannot get the yearly increase [7]. You'll get the rate you first receive here, and it stays there. The full new State Pension is £241.30 a week in 2026/27 [8], or about NZD 580. Claim through the International Pension Centre within four months of your State Pension age.

It comes off NZ Super. If you qualify for New Zealand Superannuation, Work and Income deducts your overseas pension from it, dollar for dollar, using the gross amount converted into New Zealand dollars [9]. Its own example shows a married man's UK pension of £46.82 a week coming off his NZ Super. If your UK pension is bigger than your NZ Super, you just get the UK pension [9]. Work and Income also says the amount that comes from voluntary contributions isn't counted as an overseas pension [9], so keep records of any voluntary National Insurance you've paid.

That last point matters if you're deciding whether to pay voluntary Class 2 or Class 3 contributions from Auckland. Our guide to voluntary National Insurance from abroad and our guide to the frozen UK State Pension in New Zealand go into the detail.

For the rest, a quick question in our community group for Brits in New Zealand often turns up someone who's been through it: join here.

Sources

1. Inland Revenue: Tax residency status for individuals
2. Inland Revenue: Tax rates for individuals
3. Inland Revenue: Temporary tax exemption (last updated 17 June 2026)
4. Inland Revenue: Overseas social security pensions (IR258) (December 2023)
5. GOV.UK: New Zealand tax treaties (last updated 10 June 2026)
6. GOV.UK: Tax if you leave the UK to live abroad
7. GOV.UK: State Pension if you retire abroad, rates
8. GOV.UK: The new State Pension, what you'll get
9. Work and Income: Overseas pensions (updated 2 July 2026)
10. GOV.UK: Income Tax rates and Personal Allowances

Keep reading

• The frozen UK State Pension in New Zealand
• KiwiSaver, the FIF rules and your UK pensions
• Double taxation agreements and reliefs
• Leaving the UK: telling HMRC, the P85 and your last tax year