Can't get dot leaders aligned properly in INDD

If it's of enough concern to you, you can use a tiny bit of tracking on the TOC items to adjust their width and thus their spacing from the first dot. This is only practical for fairly short TOCs, but it may be worth the tweak time as a last-step solution.

Sorry—I was lining up the right side (which is the more common concern), but you are asking about the left.

The dots need to line up in columns (see how the right side of each dot is aligned with your ruler guide), so they start closer or further from the end of the text depending on the actual characters. Mine are only lining up because I used the same words four times. That's just how it works. 

~Barb

Tab leader dots line up with each other from line to line so the space before and after the leader can’t be consistent—if the dots line up something has to give on either end:

If your preference is the have the before and after spaces be consistent, you can set a dotted underline to the Right Indent Tab. Here the before and after spacing is consistent, but the leader dots no longer line up vertically:

Add a second tab. The first one (right align) will have dot leaders, the second one (also right align) won't. Note: these are right-align tabs, not right indent tabs. 

~Barb 

First right align tab with leaders:

Second right align tab without leaders:

Final with hidden characters hidden:

~Barb