Avoiding paying parent debt
Avoiding paying parent debt
The best way to avoid getting into debt is to:
- pay the full amount you owe, on time, every month, and
- notify us as soon as possible if your circumstances change in any way, such as:
- you start or stop looking after a child (or children)
- you reconcile with the custodian (person looking after your child/ren)
- you start or stop receiving a benefit from Work and Income NZ
- one or more of your children no longer qualifies for child support
- your arrangements for shared care start or finish
- you change employers and your child support is paid from your wages or salary.
If a change has affected the amount of child support you are required to pay, we usually adjust the amount from the date of the change. This means the assessment is backdated, and you could have a debt for the past period.
You also need to tell us about any change in your personal details, such as address and/or phone number.
| Example |
|---|
| Chris estimates that his income will be lower for the new tax year and applies for a reduction in the amount of child support he is required to pay. A few months later, his income increases but he forgets to tell us. When we assess his higher income at the end of the year, his child support assessment for the whole of the past year increases. If Chris had notified us when he realised his income would be higher than he originally estimated, we could have made appropriate adjustments at that time and he would have avoided getting into debt. |
| Example |
|---|
| Pat's child support is deducted from his salary every payday. This is the easiest way for him to pay because it means he does not have to write a cheque or visit the bank every month to ensure his payments are made on time. Pat then decides to take a job at another firm. He forgets to tell Inland Revenue he has changed employers, his new employer does not know to make child support deductions, and several payments are missed. Pat now has a debt. If Pat had contacted us as soon as he started his new job, we could have made sure his new employer was making deductions for the correct amount of child support, and avoided his debt. |
Date published: 28 Oct 2004
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