For babies born on or after 1 April 2015, the Government will increase the parental tax credit from $150 a week to $220 a week, and extend the payment period from eight weeks to ten weeks. How much you receive also depends on:
- your total family income before tax
- the number of dependent children in your care and how old they are
- the number of newborn children per year
You can either receive PTC or paid parental leave. You can't receive both at the same time. And you can't receive PTC if your family income for the full eight to ten weeks includes an income-tested benefit, NZ Super, a veteran's pension, a student allowance, or accident compensation from ACC (unless you are receiving this for less than three months).
Changes to parental leave
The current 14 weeks of paid parental leave will be increased to 16 weeks for babies expected or born on or after 1 April 2015.
