A majority of the public support a banking levy, according to a Talbot Mills poll commissioned by the Better Taxes for a Better Future campaign. The Minister of Finance has previously indicated she was considering a banking levy, like the ones in Australia and the UK, ahead of this year’s Budget. As funds get increasingly tight, the popular banking levy looks like an obvious solution.
The poll asked:
- The Government is considering implementing a new targeted tax or levy on the major banks, similar to ones that operate in the UK and Australia. Supporters say this would help smaller banks compete and help protect the economy in the event of a banking failure requiring a bailout. Critics say that these levies would be passed on to consumers in a range of bank charges.
- Overall, how strongly do you agree or disagree that the government should bring in a major bank levy?
52% of people who responded to the poll said they agreed the government should bring in a major bank levy.
“This poll shows that people are increasingly frustrated with how unbalanced our economic system is. Interestingly, 59% of National voters and 57% of ACT voters support a major bank levy – showing this is a move that has support across the political spectrum,” says Kate Stone, spokesperson for the Better Taxes Campaign.
“In the lead up to the budget we’re being told there’s no money, and seeing further cuts, for example to fees-free for our rangatahi, to public service jobs and social housing support. At the same time we’re seeing big corporates, like banks, fuel and energy companies, and supermarkets continuing to make huge profits. And New Zealanders are asking themselves why ordinary people are constantly being asked to tighten our belts, to expect less.”
“The Finance Minister had signalled the government was considering a levy on banks, and the public have spoken loud and clear, they support this move,” says Stone.
“A banking levy would bring in more revenue – $275-300m – which we could use to fund critical public services, like maintaining social housing support for struggling whānau and building more social housing for those on the waitlist. But it could also serve to rein in excessive profits and level the playing field for smaller banks.”
“Importantly in these uncertain times, banking levies act as a sort of insurance policy in the event that tax payers are called upon to bail out a failing bank, like we saw during the Global Financial Crisis. It’s about big banks making a fair contribution to our economy now and in the event of a crisis,” says Stone.
“In 2025 the “Big Four” banks – ANZ, ASB, BNZ and Westpac – declared total profits before tax of $9.53 billion and over the last 10 years have increased their NZ profits by 25% in real terms. If we asked these banks to contribute just a fraction of that to our economy we could make a start on rebalancing the books and sharing the load of supporting our communities more fairly.”