child support

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All child support payments from private arrangements and Inland Revenue are counted as income. If a young person gets an Unsupported Child's Benefit, there are different rules for how we treat child support as income.

child support pass-on

If a young parent gets child support payments through Inland Revenue (IR) then:

  • IR will share most of their child support payment information with MSD, and
  • MSD systems will automatically treat these payments as income when working out their benefit and most other payment rates. 

The automated charging rules do not apply to public housing or student assistance.

Sole parents on YPP do not have to apply for child support through IR. If they do, IR will pass on the full amount to them and it will be counted as income. They can choose to have another child support arrangement, or no arrangement at all. They can also end an existing arrangement through IR if they want to.

Temporary Additional Support – if a young parent makes child support payments through IR that are formula assessed, they may be counted as an allowable cost.

information share with Inland Revenue

MSD receives information about voluntary agreement and formula assessment Child Support paid by Inland Revenue (we call this ‘info share Child Support’). This information will be matched to young people who receive certain types of income-tested financial assistance from MSD i.e. Young Parent Payment.

applying for child support

When a young parent applies for YPP, the youth coach may check if the young person is aware they may be able to get child support if it’s appropriate for their situation.

If the youth coach is discussing child support with a young parent and they don’t want to apply, they don’t have to give an explanation.

Be clear with taiohi that their decision not to apply for child support has no impact on their application for assistance from MSD.

types of child support

It is important to discuss with taiohi the types of child support and how they differ.

private arrangement 

voluntary agreement

formula assessment

declaring child support

IR will share most types of child support payment information with us. This means taiohi won't need to tell us about most types of child support payments they get through IR.

Young parents will need to let us know if they receive any of these types of child support payments:

  • Private arrangements of child support
  • Unsupported Child's Benefit child support excess payments
  • Court-ordered lump sum payments
  • Foreign child support.

unsupported child’s benefit carers

There are different rules for Unsupported Child’s Benefit carers. They usually need to apply for child support, except in some limited circumstances.

More information is here Child support payment changes – Work and Income

how to apply for child support

If a young parent wants to apply, you can:

  1. Provide the client with the appropriate child support application form ensuring the form is fully completed
    • IR101B – carers caring for their own children
    • IR954 – carers caring for someone else’s child (non-parent carers like carers getting UCB)
  2. Collect all supporting documentation needed for client’s child support application.
  3. Scan the IR101B and supporting documents as one PDF
    • Select scan to email
    • Select 2-sided scan option
    • Repeat these steps for each child
    • Check the application and supporting documents have been scanned correctly
  4. Email the IR101B and supporting documents to IR msdchildsupport@ird.govt.nz with the subject line: IR101B
  5. Post the IR954 child support application form and supporting documents to:

Inland Revenue
PO Box 39010
Wellington Mail Centre
Lower Hutt 5045

The IR954 application must be signed and dated by the young person and the original posted to Inland Revenue along with a copy of the birth certificate for their child. You must scan and upload the signed application into ART.

Inland Revenue will assess the application and will send the young person a letter advising the outcome of their application.

Young parents can apply for child support directly through the IR website if they prefer. They don’t have to fill in the IR101B if they don’t want to.

child support as income

Info share child support payments will be automatically treated as income for calculating a benefit or other assistance.

Find information about how we treat child support as income here.

young parent payment income thresholds and cut-out points

Info share child support abates Young Parent Payment differently to other types of income. This is to make sure young people aren't financially worse off when they get child support.

  • If a YPP is receiving info share child support, and their child support takes them over the income cut-out point, their benefit will continue to reduce dollar for dollar until there is no child support left to charge, or their entitlement is reduced to zero. 
  • If their other income (eg wages) is over the income cut-out before child support is added, their benefit will stop.

IR will share monthly child support information with us around the 21st of every month, if the paying parent pays on time. If the paying parent pays late, IR will share it with us on the day they pay it. 

When we get child support payment information from IR, we'll treat this as income for the next month. This means the next 4 or 5 weeks from the date taiohi receive the child support payment. It could be 4 or 5 weeks, depending on the number of weeks until taiohi get their next child support payment from IR (as long as the paying parent has paid on time).

For more information see MAP.

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