Working for Families Calculator

You must be the principal caregiver of a dependent child (aged 15 or under, 16 or 17 and not financially independent, or 18, not financially independent and still at school or tertiary study) who lives with you at least a third of a 4-month period, and have family income below the level where entitlements are fully abated. You or the child must also meet the residence test. You meet it if you are NZ tax resident on the days the credit is for, have at some time been NZ resident and in NZ for a continuous 12 months, and neither you nor your partner is a transitional resident. The child meets it if they are NZ resident and in NZ for the period. Being entitled to an emergency benefit also satisfies it (ITA s MC 5).

From 1 April 2026 (the 2026-27 year), Working for Families payments reduce by 27.5 cents for every dollar of family income above $44,900 (Taxation (Budget Measures) Act 2025). For 2025-26 and prior years, the threshold was $42,700 and the rate was 27 cents per dollar. A family with higher income and fewer children may receive reduced or zero payments.

The In-Work Tax Credit base rate was temporarily boosted by $50/week — from $97.50 to $147.50/week — for 2026-27 only. It was announced 24 March 2026 and enacted 30 March 2026, eight weeks before Budget 2026 — not a Budget 2026 measure, though its cost was charged against the Budget's operating allowance. The boost runs to 31 March 2027. IRD says it may reduce back to the old rate if the cost of petrol drops below $3 a litre for four weeks, and after 31 March 2027 the maximum returns to the old rate. From 1 April 2027 the rate reverts to $97.50/week unless legislation is renewed. Around 143,000 families receive the full $50/week and a further 14,000 become newly eligible at abated amounts.

No. The Independent Earner Tax Credit (IETC) and Working for Families are mutually exclusive. Families with children generally receive more from WfF.

Register through myIR (my.ird.govt.nz). You can choose to receive payments weekly, fortnightly, or as a lump sum at the end of the tax year. One check before you do: if you are a new migrant or a New Zealander back after 10 years away, applying gives up the temporary tax exemption on your overseas income, for you and for your partner, and it cannot be undone.

It can cost you the temporary tax exemption (transitional residence) on your overseas income. IRD: "You cannot have both Working for Families and a TTE. That means if you apply for Working for Families, you'll lose your exemption", and "Once you've applied for Working for Families, you cannot change your mind and reinstate your previous TTE." Best Start counts as Working for Families here. It also reaches your partner: section HR 8(5) of the Income Tax Act 2007 treats the application as a notice of election out by the applicant and by their spouse, civil union partner or de facto partner, so a partner who never applied loses the exemption too, for the whole period the application covers. If you have meaningful foreign income, compare the two in the transitional resident calculator before applying — and note that you can always apply for Working for Families once the exemption ends, but never the reverse.

Best Start provides $77.71/week (was $73.81 pre-Budget) for children born on or after 1 July 2018, paid for the first three years. From 1 April 2026 the first year is income-tested at $79,000 / 21% (previously universal); years two and three are also income-tested at the same threshold. The change applies to babies born on or after 1 April 2026.