Working for Families me te utu tiaki pēpi Working for Families and paid parental leave

If you qualify for paid parental leave, you may qualify for Working for Families payments too.

Working for Families is money paid to families with dependent children aged 18 and under.

There are 4 types of Working for Families payments.

1. Family tax credit
2. In-work tax credit
3. Minimum family tax credit
4. Best Start tax credit

Types of Working for Families payments

See if you qualify.

Can I get Working for Families?

Apply for Working for Families

When you’re on paid parental leave, you can get Working for Families payments (if you qualify) at the same time, except for the Best Start tax credit.

But you can get Best Start as soon as your paid parental leave finishes.

You’ll continue to receive Best Start payments for any previous children if you’re eligible.

If you’re having your first baby

We recommend you apply for Working for Families (including Best Start) early ─ before your paid parental leave finishes ─ so we can start your payments on time, and you won’t miss out on a payment.

Apply for Working for Families

If you’re already registered for Working for Families

If you’re getting payments weekly or fortnightly, your Best Start payments will start on time automatically, as long as you update your records to let us know about the new child in your care.

Update a child's details for Working for Families

If you get your Working for Families paid in a lump sum after the end of the tax year, your Best Start payments will be included in the lump sum.

Important - remember to tell us about any changes

Your Working for Families entitlement may change with changes in your family income and family circumstances.

Please let us know about any changes straight away so we can update your entitlement. You can tell us about your changes in myIR.

If you don’t tell us, you may end up with an overpayment that you’ll need to repay to us.

Find out what changes we need to know about, and how to update your records in myIR.

Changes to your family or income details