The state of the economy was also laid bare today and the forecast is gloomy - growth is slow, businesses are doing it tough and so the tax take is down.
Getting back to surplus has been pushed out another year - until 2028 - because the Government has prioritised giving their promised Kiwis tax cuts and now the Finance Minister is being accused of borrowing to pay for them.
Michaela Fiasandier studies social work and is a part-time barista. Her tax cut is about $20 a week.
"It won't make much of a difference but at least it's better than zero," she said.
But buried in the Budget bundle is a nightmare for renters. House prices are expected to keep rising modestly and despite landlords getting $2.9 billion in tax cuts, rents are forecast to keep rising rapidly.
"The talk about rents down because of the interest deductibility, that's never going to happen. They're going to take as much as they can," Fiasandier said.
Finance Minister Nicola Willis is adamant the landlord tax cut hasn't failed its objective.
"No, they haven't because the alternative is rents would have risen faster," Willis said.
Tax cuts should see Kiwis spending more. Small business owner Jojo Ross has been feeling the downturn.
"It's like we hit February and it's scary, it's really scary," Ross said.
But she doubts she'll see the tax cut flow on effect.
"It's not going to come to less necessary goods. It's going to people's expenses, it's going to go to things they really need," she told Newshub.
Because the Government itself is slashing its spending, Treasury said the Budget is, on balance, slightly disinflationary.
"And its forecasts also show inflation returning to the target band of one to three percent later this year," Willis said.
The income tax cut package will cost $14.7 billion and the Government said its paying for this with $1.2b in savings and $780m in closing the previous Government's programs – like the Clean Car Discount. It's also taking $600m from the Climate Emergency Response Fund, $580m from commercial building depreciation, $50m from taxing online casinos, $13m from moving Fees-Free from the first year of study to the final year, plus $15m by cracking down on tax evaders.
"I can confirm that because of this the Government is not borrowing to fund this tax relief and it will not add to inflation," Willis said.
But Willis is increasing borrowing by $12 billion - which equates to the bulk of the tax cut package.
"You don't need an abacus to figure out that this is a Government borrowing to pay for tax cuts," Hipkins said.
The economic forecasts make for grim reading and show just how tight the Budget is - productivity is weak, growth is slow, tax revenue has fallen by $28 billion. Getting the books back in the black has been pushed out and unemployment is expected to peak at 5.3 percent at the end of the year.
Though perhaps the grimmest reading is the Child Poverty Report.
All of the graphs either stop short because material hardship can’t be predicted or they go in the wrong direction.
"In a country as wealthy as New Zealand, for that target to be going in the wrong direction, that's a sin," economist and member of Labour Party's policy council Craig Renney said.
"What I'd say to you is a budget that ensures that New Zealanders, particularly those with young children, are getting more income is a budget that is good for children," Willis said.
Only time will tell.
