From today, thousands of Kiwis will receive a cash boost through increased government assistance.
The Government rolled out a slew of changes on April 1 to increase payments many New Zealand households receive. They include a small rise in the minimum wage, benefit increases and interest deductibility for landlords.
Labour has hit out at the adjustments, saying they will leave Kiwis worse off after taking inflation into account.
Minimum wage
The adult minimum wage has increased by two percent from $22.70 an hour to $23.15.
Benefits
Changes will take effect for all benefits from today due to the annual general adjustment that takes place every year on April 1. These will be based on either the increase in the consumer price index (4.66 percent rise), or net average wage (5.28 percent rise).
A couple with kids on job seeker support will get an extra $56 a fortnight.
A single person on Jobseeker Support without children will see their benefit go from $337.74 to $353.46 a week, while a couple will receive $601.46 a week or $300.73 each, up from $574.70 total or $287.35 individually. A couple with children will qualify for $635.10 a week while a single parent on Jobseeker will receive $494.80.
The Best Start credit for families supporting a newborn baby has increased from $69 a week to $73.
The Family Tax Credit, or Working for Families, will increase from a maximum $136 to a maximum $144 a week for the oldest child in a family, and from $111 to $117 per week for subsequent children.
There is a full list of the new rates on the Work and Income website.
Student allowance
The student allowance for eligible students aged under 24 will increase by $27.94 to a maximum $314.15 a week after tax.
Superannuation
Superannuation will also increase. A single person living alone will get $46.20 more a fortnight. A couple will get $71.08 more a fortnight.
Landlords
Interest deductibility changes also come into effect today, which allows landlords to claim 80 percent of their interest costs from their tax bills.
Tax increases
Alongside the payment boosts are new tax increases.
The trust tax rate has gone up from 33 percent to 39 percent, matching the top personal tax rate. However, trusts earning less than $10,000 a year will be exempt.
The Government has also introduced road user charges (RUC) for electric and hybrid vehicles. For battery electric vehicles the RUC rate is $76.00 per 1000km.
Plug-in petrol hybrid vehicles will pay a lower RUC rate of $38.00 per 1000km. This is because they already pay some fuel excise duty when you buy petrol.
The list of RUC rates can be found here.
Newshub.
