Iran war: Government announces $50 boost to Working for Families

Tuesday, 24 March 2026

The Government will provide a $50 boost to the In-Work Tax Credit in the wake of soaring costs as a result of the Iran conflict.

The financial support, built into Working for Families, will kick in from April 7 and stay in place for up to a year or until petrol drops to below $3 a litre.

It will only go to families with children and who are in work. The cut off for the tax credit is around $89,000 of annual income for a family with one child, $112,000 for a family with two children and $135,000 for a family with three children.

The Government support had been signalled since last week when Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told media that “things could get worse before they actually get better”.

Finance Minister Nicola Willis said the temporary boost would provide support to families facing significant cost pressures without making inflation worse or driving up Government debt.

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“The policy is carefully targeted to families in the squeezed middle.”

Willis said that work on the support would be made quickly, with an amendment to the taxation bill set to be put before Parliament on Wednesday.

The policy would come at a cost of $373 million if it was in force for a year and was set to give support to about 143,000 families across the country.

It would count against the Government’s operating allowance for 2026, therefore it had already been factored into Treasury’s fiscal forecast.

Willis said she put the proposal before officials and they advised her on the policy.

“This proposal I have brought to you is the proposal I brought to them.”

Most people eligible for the support would not need to do anything to receive it.

The support programme, developed by Inland Revenue and Treasury, has been signed off by Cabinet and will use an already-existing policy tool.

Willis said given the system was already in place it made it easy to set up administratively.

The extra cash would be paid directly into people’s bank accounts starting April 7 if they were paid weekly and 14 April if they were paid fortnightly.

Families could check their eligibility via the Inland Revenue site.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins told media on Tuesday afternoon there would be more New Zealanders that missed out on the support than received it.

“I think those that are on low incomes who are not getting it are going to be asking when are we going to get some support from the Government?”

Hipkins said the announcement was “a start”.

“For those who are getting this extra money, they'll welcome it, but as I've said, the majority of people won't be getting this extra money, and they'll be asking, ‘OK what’s next?’”

Green Party co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick said the Government had the opportunity to ensure no New Zealanders were left behind when facing cost increases.

“The announcement that they have made today leaves millions of New Zealanders out in the cold and does nothing to deal with our resilience.”

Swarbrick warned of the risk of cuts as a result of the funding support.

“As a result of the Minister of Finance’s decision to have this $373 million come from the current operating allowance, which Treasury has already said is not nearly enough to keep the lights on for service provision as New Zealanders know it, we are going to see more front line service cuts.”