Victims of sexual offences
Victims of sexual offences
Stopping your child support payments
Paying parents who are the victims of a sexual offence may be able to stop their child support payments by applying for an exemption.
You can apply if:
- an application for child support naming you as the paying parent has been accepted by Child Support for a child, and
- you believe that the child was born as a result of a sexual offence (as defined by section
127 - 144C of the Crimes Act 1961), and - you're the victim of the offence, and
- a person other than you has been:
- convicted of the sexual offence, or
- proved to have committed the sexual offence in a Youth Court, or
- in the opinion of Inland Revenue, the child was conceived as a result of that sexual offence.
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You can apply for an exemption within 28 days of being told of your child support liability. The exemption will apply from the date we received the child support application. If we receive your exemption application after 28 days the exemption will apply from the date we received it.
Applying to stop your payments
To apply to have your payments stopped, you need to tell us in writing:
- your name, IRD number and date of birth
- the name and date of birth (or approximate age if date of birth is not known) of the person convicted of the crime
- the date of the court hearing and the name of the court where the hearing took place.
We'll contact the New Zealand Police or Ministry of Justice to verify details.
If you don't qualify to stop your payments
If you don't qualify to have your payments stopped, we may still be able to reduce your payments. To qualify for a reduction your income for the current year ending 31 March needs to be at least 15% less than the income we used to work out your child support payments.
For example, if we originally used an income of $20,000 per annum to work out your payments, and the income you expect to get for the year has fallen by at least $3,000 (15%), we can reduce your payments.
Applying to reduce your payments
You can either:
- fill in an Estimate of income for child support assessment (IR104) form, or
- write to us telling us how much you expect to earn for the current year.
You'll need to:
- state how much you expect to earn for the current year
- provide evidence of your estimation - such as payslips, a letter from Work and Income or, if you were self-employed, a letter from your accountant.
We'll work out your new payments and tell you the new rate.
If you already owe child support
You are still liable for any child support you owe before your payments are stopped or reduced.
For more help
Please call us on 0800 221 221 between 8 am and 6 pm on weekdays.
Date published: 16 Dec 2009
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