National finance spokesperson Nicola Willis has signalled she is keen in future on some form of business tax relief, potentially alongside a cut to personal tax rates.
Willis has ruled out any major tax cuts next term or until the country's finances are back in surplus - with the current forecast for that to be around 2028/29.
However, the issue of both tax cuts and tax increases is likely to feature at the ASB finance spokesperson debate in Queenstown on Wednesday night.
"The priorities for tax reform are more money in the back pockets of workers and then ensuring that our tax system encourages businesses to innovate, to be productive, and to make investments," Willis said.
As for a straight headline corporate tax cut, Willis, in an interview with RNZ earlier this month, acknowledged that some people viewed New Zealand's rate of 28% as too high.
The OECD average was around 24%.
However, she also pointed out that when factors such as the research and development (R&D) tax credits and the Investment Boost scheme were included, New Zealand was more competitive.
In the end, the key point for Willis when considering a reduction in corporate tax was making sure it incentivised businesses to grow and didn't just provide a windfall gain to firms.
"I'm really interested in the R&D tax credit, which has been successful in encouraging firms to invest in innovation, and there's potential for expanding that. And I think over time, looking at that top-line corporate rate, yes, we're not as competitive as we would like to be with the rest of the developed world."
As for which would come first, personal or business tax cuts, Willis said there was no reason they could not be delivered at the same time in the future, if conditions allowed.
"We've demonstrated that this term we delivered personal income tax relief in our first Budget and we delivered business tax relief in our second Budget. And so I do think you need to be thinking about both things at once."
New Zealand First wasn't waiting for a return to surplus and had already promised a corporate tax cut for small New Zealand businesses.
It was proposing to cut the rate from 28 to 20% for small to medium-sized companies with turnover of less than $30 million.
The party argued: "Lower company tax rates can improve long-run productivity growth and stimulate the creation of new companies."
It was estimated that the tax reduction would have an initial annual fiscal cost of approximately $1 billion.
When asked about the New Zealand First plan Willis said she was always interested in tax reform ideas, but had some reservations.
"I worry that policy doesn't deliver maximum bang for buck. And that's because in New Zealand, corporate tax is essentially a withholding rate, which is to say small businesses, ultimately, when they pay themselves either in salary or dividend, end up paying tax at their personal tax rate. So, while they might pay lower tax on the business profit in the beginning, as soon as that's distributed, they end up paying the personal tax rate."
Labour did not advocate for any corporate tax cuts, but when it came to helping business, its focus, like New Zealand First's, was very much on small business.
Its policy included replacing the government's Investment Boost and lifting the tax write-off for small businesses buying equipment or tools from $1000 to $10,000.
It said small businesses would then be able to immediately reduce the cost of new equipment from their tax bill.
Labour's finance spokesperson Barbara Edmonds said 97% of businesses in New Zealand were small, and that was the party's focus.
"It's around supporting them to make things easier for them to run their business, so they get paid on time and to make sure that they get a bigger cut of government business, because the government procures about $50 billion worth of goods and services."
The Greens, meanwhile, were proposing tax increases for big businesses.
Its policy was to increase the corporate tax rate from 28% to 33% for companies with annual turnover of more than $30 million.
The Greens maintained this would affect just 0.7% of businesses, including the likes of banks and supermarkets.
"Essential services like healthcare, education, and infrastructure could be funded if the super-rich and mega-corporates like the supermarket duopoly, banks, and power companies contribute fairly to the society they profit from," co-leader Marama Davidson said in June.
Act, meanwhile, had so far not released any dedicated business tax reforms.
The party, which has traditionally backed lower taxes, had been vocal however during this election campaign in saying it would not be responsible to cut taxes while the government's books were in deficit.
As such, its fiscal plan focused on cutting spending and bringing down debt.
It had, however, promised to remove tax on KiwiSaver earnings.
The Māori Party proposed increasing the corporate tax rate from 28 to 33%, as well as introducing a profit transfer tax.
It said: "The current system rewards accumulation without contribution, allowing extreme wealth to grow detached from social responsibility. This undermines social cohesion and breaches the Crown's obligations to equity and fairness."
The Opportunity Party tax policy did not include any mention of the corporate tax rate, but seemed to hinge heavily on its proposal for a universal land tax, which it said would help encourage more investment in businesses.
It said a land value tax would make housing affordable by shifting the tax load off working people and onto land.
"The 1.75% annual tax applies to the value of land only and will discourage land-banking and large property portfolios - redirecting money into businesses instead."
