The second cost of living payment will be delivered into Kiwis' bank accounts on Thursday - and all eyes will be on whether foreigners and expats receive the money as some did in August.
Eligible New Zealanders will receive $116 in their bank accounts on Thursday, the second of three cost of living payments that will add up to $350 over three months. It's intended to support Kiwis in the face of the high prices of food, petrol and other items.
To receive the payment, New Zealanders need to earn $70,000 or less, not be entitled to the Winter Energy Payment, be aged 18 or older and "present in New Zealand".
The Inland Revenue (IRD) also needs to know where to send eligible New Zealanders' payment. As of Tuesday, more than 112,000 Kiwis hadn't provided their details to IRD, meaning they may miss out on getting the money.
Due to there being such a large number of payments to make, IRD will stagger them throughout the day. That means your payment may not come at the same time as your friend's. If you have a credit union account, you'll get the payment a day later.
"The payment will show as 'Living Costs' in your bank account. In myIR the date displayed is the processing date and may be earlier than the day you get your payment," IRD said.
When announcing the policy in May, the Government said it could go to an estimated 2.1 million people. However, IRD's latest data shows just 1.389 million people have so far received the first payment, equal to about $162 million paid out.
"Inland Revenue will be running eligibility checks every day. We expect the number of people meet the eligibility criteria to increase towards the 2.1 million over time, as 2022 income tax assessments, IR3 income tax returns, and partners of Working for Families recipients have their returns finalised."
But there's also the issue of people who aren't eligible for the payment getting the money. Possibly up to 31,000 people not in New Zealand got the first payment on August 1. That included foreigners who previously worked in New Zealand, expats and wealthy property investors who have rentals here.
IRD explained that an ineligible person could potentially get the payment if they hadn't told IRD they had left the country and if they had received income into a New Zealand bank account from the likes of bank interest.
Advice received by ministers in May said ineligible people could get the money. However, the Government defended the policy in August by saying the automated process of paying the money was quicker and less costly than requiring people to apply for the money.
There were also fears that running an application process may mean some vulnerable people don't apply.
But the Auditor-General has been scathing of the rollout. He said this week that the Government prioritised speed over accuracy and should be looking into how many ineligible people got the first payment.
Revenue Minister David Parker said the Government may never know how many people who shouldn't have got the money did. He also can't be certain dead people won't get the next payment.
The Government has introduced new screening tests to try to stop people offshore getting the payment again.
That includes looking for where an overseas IP address has been used to log into Inland Revenue's website, or where a non-resident individual income tax return has been filed for the last financial year.
The cost of living payment isn't the only step the Government's taken to try to support New Zealanders. As well as the increases to some financial support in April, it's also cut the Fuel Excise Duty, Road User Charges and public transport fares until the end of January next year.
