Help for families
- Certificates of exemption from schedular payments
- Child support
- Donations to the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal
- Extensions of time for qualifying companies
- Insurance payments for residential property
- KiwiSaver
- Redundancy
- Special tax code
- Student loan repayment deduction exemptions for full-time students
- Student loan special deduction rates for secondary income
- Working for Families Tax Credits
Certificates of exemption from schedular payments
An exemption certificate may also be available if you have schedular payments deducted from your income. You can apply for a certificate of exemption by completing a Request for PAYE exemption on schedular payments (IR332) form.
Find out more about certificates of exemption from schedular payments
Child support
If you're having trouble making child support payments please call us on 0800 221 221.
If you're unable to make your child support payments because of the earthquake you may qualify to have your late payment penalties written off.
If your income has changed because of the earthquake, you may need to re-estimate the amount of child support you pay. You can estimate your income if you expect to earn at least 15% less than the income we've used to work out your child support.
To estimate, you can write to us or complete the Estimate of income for child support assessment (IR104) form. You need to estimate how much you expect to earn for the whole tax year and provide evidence to support your estimation, for example, payslips or, if self-employed, a letter from your accountant.
Administrative reviews
If you're unable to estimate your income, but believe you have special circumstances, you may be able to apply for a review. You have to show you have grounds for a review.
Find out more about child support reviews
Donations to the Canterbury Earthquake Appeal
Donations of $5 or more to approved donee organisations such as the Red Cross and the Salvation Army are eligible for a tax credit.
Find out how to claim your tax credit
Extensions of time for qualifying companies
This extension of time applies to qualifying companies, delayed in the 2012 income year from transitioning into look-through companies, partnerships and sole traderships.
A six-month extension of time (up to 31 March 2012) has been given to any qualifying company, who, as a result of the Canterbury earthquakes and aftershocks is unable to comply with the time limits for:
- electing to transition to a look-through company
- notifying us about transitioning to a partnership or a sole tradership.
The six-month extension of time applies from the date when the qualifying company must submit either a Look-through company election (IR862) form or a Qualifying company transition (IR891) form.
To apply for the extension of time you'll need to attach a letter explaining how either Canterbury earthquake has affected your ability to comply when you make your election or notification to transition to another business structure.
See our guides Look-through companies (IR879) or Qualifying companies (IR435) for more information.
Insurance payments for residential property
Any insurance payments you receive from the Earthquake Commission or your insurance company for damage to your residential property, won't need to be included as income in your income tax returns.
KiwiSaver
You may want to consider the following options if you have KiwiSaver savings.
Contributions holiday
If you're an employee and have been a member of KiwiSaver for 12 months, you can take a break from saving - this is called a contributions holiday. There is also the option of applying for an early contributions holiday if you've been a KiwiSaver member for less than 12 months but are experiencing financial hardship.
The contributions holiday can last from three months to five years.
You can apply online for a contributions holiday or an early contributions holiday
Significant financial hardship
If you can provide evidence that you're suffering significant financial hardship, you may be able to withdraw some of your KiwiSaver savings.
You'll need to contact your KiwiSaver provider directly.
You may have to:
- show that reasonable alternative sources of funding have been explored
- complete a statutory declaration about your assets and liabilities
- provide other documents or information to support your application.
Redundancy
If you're made redundant you may be entitled to some financial support. Find out what you have to pay and what you can claim. Redundancy may mean you earn more, or less, than you would normally expect to in the financial year.
Find out more about redundancy
Special tax code
You may want to request a special tax code to allow PAYE to be deducted at a rate more suitable to your situation. This may even be a nil tax deduction rate if you're in a loss situation.
To apply for this you'll need to complete a Special tax code application - 2013 (IR23BS) form.
Find out more about special tax codes
Student loan repayment deduction exemptions for full-time students
If you're working and studying full-time, and think you'll earn under the annual repayment threshold of $19,084 for the 2013 tax year, you may qualify for a repayment deduction exemption. This means you don't have to use a student loan "SL" repayment code and won't have student loan repayment deductions from your salary or wages.
Student loan repayment deduction exemptions
Student loan special deduction rates for secondary income
If you find that the student loan deductions from your secondary job are too high, you may be able to apply for a special deduction rate. You may qualify if:
- you have more than one job
- your secondary tax code is SB SL or S SL; and
- your gross income from your main job is less than $367 per week.
Find out about student loan special deduction rates
Working for Families Tax Credits
How often you can receive payments
Working for Families Tax Credits (WfFTC) payments are made weekly, fortnightly or as a lump sum after the end of the tax year.
If you choose to receive payments weekly or fortnightly the payments are based on an estimated annual family income and your family circumstances (for example, the number of children in your care, the childrens' ages, where your income is from and the number of hours worked each week).
If you choose a lump sum after the end of the tax year, you'll have your entitlement calculated on your actual family income and family circumstances.
If you've chosen to receive your entitlement at the end of the year, you may now want to receive it weekly or fortnightly. You can change this through our secure online services. You can also update your income details and make changes to your family circumstances.
Find out if you're eligible for WfFTC
If your income has reduced you may now be eligible. If you'd like to see what WfFTC you may be entitled to, you can use our online calculator or the Working for Families Tax Credits worksheet 2011-2012 (IR271).
We understand that the earthquake on 22 February may have changed your circumstances significantly. It may be difficult for you to provide accurate family income details. We're asking for an estimation only and you can change your estimation when you have more accurate details. This can be done at any time during the year.
The Commissioner of Inland Revenue has declared both the Canterbury earthquakes of 4 September 2010 and 22 February 2011, as emergency events.
This means a payment made to relieve the adverse effects of either earthquake won't need to be included as income for Working for Families Tax Credits if the payment is received between the following dates:
- For the earthquake of 4 September 2010 - 1 April 2011 to 3 September 2011 (both dates inclusive).
- For the earthquake of 22 February 2011 - 1 April 2011 to 21 February 2011 (both dates inclusive).
You can apply for Working for Families Tax Credits online
Find out more about Working for Families Tax Credits
Date published: 05 Mar 2012
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