Community Services Card Eligibility Checker

Income limits from 1 April 2026

Work and Income adjusts these cut-out points every 1 April. Your yearly income before tax has to be less than the figure for your situation — a household sitting exactly on the limit does not qualify.

For families of more than six, the limit rises by $12,440 for each extra person. Note what Work and Income counts as a family here: one or two adults plus the dependent children they care for. A family of two is one adult and one dependent child, so a couple with no children uses the couple row ($55,501) rather than the family-of-two row ($67,791).

What counts as income

The test is broader than taxable income — it covers money, goods and services you or your partner receive from any source. The figure Work and Income assesses is therefore often higher than the one on your IR3 or your income summary.

• Wages or salary
• NZ Superannuation
• Private pensions — but if you get NZ Super as well, only half of the private pension counts
• Overseas pensions
• Interest or dividends from investments
• Child support
• Paid Parental Leave
• Working for Families Tax Credits from Inland Revenue
• ACC payments
• Income from rents

Who can get a card

You need to be 16 or over, normally live in New Zealand and intend to stay, and be a New Zealand citizen, a permanent resident, or hold — or have applied for — refugee or protection status. Income is then assessed for you and your partner together.

A dependent child can hold a card only where their parent or caregiver receives the Orphans Benefit, the Unsupported Child’s Benefit or the Child Disability Allowance.

When a card is sent to you automatically

Check this list before applying — if you are in one of these groups, a card is sent to you and your partner without an application, and applying again achieves nothing.

• Accommodation Supplement
• Emergency Benefit
• Jobseeker Support
• Residential Care Subsidy — a partner has to apply for their own card
• Sole Parent Support
• Student Allowance — unless you have a partner who is working, in which case you apply
• Supported Living Payment
• Veterans Pension
• Youth Payment or Young Parent Payment

Living in public housing — a Kāinga Ora home — also triggers an automatic card. So does receiving the Orphans Benefit, the Unsupported Child’s Benefit or the Child Disability Allowance for a child you support, in which case the card comes for the child and you can sign it on their behalf. If you get Working for Families Tax Credits, an application form is sent to you automatically instead.

What the card reduces the cost of

• Visits to a health practitioner you are enrolled with, for you and for dependent children aged 14–17
• ACC visits to a general practice if you are injured — enrolment may not be required, it depends on the practice
• Subsidised prescriptions, which are free with the card, and part-charges on unsubsidised or private-specialist prescriptions
• Public transport fares on trains, buses and some ferries
• After-hours health practitioner fees
• Glasses for children under 16
• Emergency dental care from hospitals and approved dental contractors
• Travel and accommodation for treatment at a public hospital outside your area — 80km away or more for adults, 25km for children
• Home help

Two common gaps: a visit by an enrolled child under 14 is usually already free, and where the practice adds its own charge on top the card does not cover it. Pharmacy part-charges and other pharmacy fees are not covered either.

How to apply

If no automatic pathway applies, you fill in an application form. You can download it from Work and Income, call 0800 999 999 and ask for one, collect one from a service centre, or ask a health practitioner such as your family doctor or pharmacy. Work and Income assesses the income of you and your partner and makes the final decision — this checker screens the published thresholds, it does not decide the application.

Questions this checker answers