If you're in hospital or have to stay in a treatment centre for substance addiction, you can fill out a form to stop paying child support or reduce your payment amount.
To qualify for this exemption, you need to:
- be in hospital or the treatment centre for at least 13 weeks
- apply up to 3 months after leaving hospital or the treatment centre
- have very low income - see the full details under 'About exemptions'.
Before you start
You'll need your:
- IRD number
- myIR login details (or your usual postal address if you do not have myIR)
- contact details
- expected investment and other income for the tax year (1 April to 31 March).
Download and fill in the form
You can complete this form online, or print it and fill it out by hand.
You can also get a hospital or treatment centre officer or administrator to fill it in for you. The form will need an official stamp from the hospital or rehab facility.
Send us the form in myIR
Attach your completed form to a message in myIR, telling us the message is for child support.
You do not need to sign the form when you send it to us in myIR.
If you do not have myIR, you can also:
- call us to apply for an exemption over the phone
- send your signed and completed form by post.
Child Support
PO Box 39010
Wellington Mail Centre
Lower Hutt 5045
What happens next
We'll check if you meet the requirements for an exemption, then we’ll send you a letter saying if you got the exemption or not.
If you get the exemption, we’ll also send you a new notice of assessment showing you have nothing to pay for that time period.
If we accept your application, you'll get a new notice of assessment. If you do not get the exemption, we'll send you a letter telling you why.
We'll contact you if we need more information.
Exemption reviews
The receiving carer can ask us to review your exemption if they think you do not meet the requirements. If this happens, we may contact you for more information about your income or circumstances.
Your responsibilities
If you owe child support from before your exemption starts, you still need to pay this.
Contact us as soon as your situation changes and you start getting an income. We’ll help you set up a payment arrangement to pay any overdue amounts.
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