A child or young person can be any of these:
- aged 14 or younger
- aged 15, 16 or 17 and still at school
- turned 18 on or after 1 January in the previous tax year and was still at school (not a tertiary institution).
Tax summary
You might have to pay tax. It depends on where your income comes from and how much you earn in the tax year (1 April to 31 March).
You do not need to pay tax on pocket money or an allowance.
Where does your income come from?
Some types of income are taxed before you receive them. Most commonly this includes wages, salary, schedular payments, interest and dividends, and Maori authority distributions. If you earn this type of income your employer, payer or bank takes tax out before they pay you.
Before you start earning this type of income you need to:
- get an IRD number
- work out your tax code or rate
- give your tax information to your employer, payer or bank.
Other types of income are not taxed before you receive them. This includes money from mowing neighbours' lawns, childminding or being self employed. If you earn this type of income you only need to pay tax on it if you earn $2,340 or more in a tax year (1 April to 31 March). You work out how much tax you need to pay by doing a tax return after the end of the tax year. If you earn less than $2,340 from this type of income you do not need to pay tax on that income.
The Individual income tax return guide - IR3G has more information.