On 24 March 2026, the Government announced a temporary increase of $50 a week to the in-work tax credit (IWTC) payments from 1 April 2026 to 31 March 2027 or until the price of 91 petrol is below $3 a litre for 4 consecutive weeks (whichever is earlier).
We estimate that 143,000 families will receive the full $50 increase and a further 14,000 families will now be eligible for IWTC and receive less than $50 a week.
Other changes were made to Working for Families effective from 1 April 2026, including the increase in the abatement threshold and abatement rate and the increase in the family tax credit. These changes will have an impact on the number of families receiving the full $50.
About the in-work tax credit
Families can choose whether to receive their IWTC payment weekly or fortnightly or wait until the end of the tax year and receive a lump sum payment.
On average approximately 60% of families receive payments during the year. Eligibility for payments changes during the year as income changes and payments can stop once families have received their expected full year’s entitlement.
In April, based on the number of families that are registered to receive weekly or fortnightly Working for Families payments, we expect between 75,000 and 90,000 families will receive the new IWTC entitlement. This number could increase as newly eligible families register for Working for Families.
In-work tax credit statistics
We will report fortnightly on the number of families receiving at least $50 a week from IWTC, the number of families receiving some level of IWTC payment, the number of families receiving IWTC this year compared to last year, and the number of registrations for Working for Families.
The first dataset will be available shortly after the 15 April 2026 payment date.
We will not be able to confirm the number of families that benefited from this change until June/July 2028 once filing for the 2027 tax year has been completed in March 2028.