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Do you get a benefit or another type of payment from the government? Your Working for Families may be affected.

You cannot claim some types of Working for Families payments if you already get assistance from the government.

The following table shows how different government payments affect your Working for Families. A Yes means you could qualify and a No means you do not qualify.

Type of government assistance Best Start Family tax credit In-work tax credit Minimum family tax credit
 Main benefit  Yes  Yes  No  No
 Student allowance  Yes  Yes  No  Yes
 New Zealand Super  Yes  Yes  Yes  Yes
 Paid parental leave  No*  Yes  Yes  Yes
 Unsupported child benefit  Yes  No*  Yes  No*
 ACC earnings-related payments  Yes  Yes  Yes  Yes

* You cannot claim this type of Working for Families for the child involved. But you may have a claim if you have other children.

These payments are added to your family income

All the government payments shown in the table (apart from the unsupported child benefit) are:

  • taxable
  • included in your income tax assessment or IR3 income tax return.

This means they're also included in your family income when we work out your Working for Families entitlement.

Working out your family income


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Last updated: 11 Mar 2025
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