What is the Best Start tax credit and can I get NZ$73 per week for children under 3?

The Best Start tax credit is a payment to help families with the costs of raising a child during their first three years of life. For the 2025 tax year (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025), the payment is approximately NZ$73 per week per child (NZ$3,796 per year).

How Best Start works:

Year 1 (birth to age 1):

• Best Start is a universal payment for all eligible families during the child's first year of life, regardless of income
• All families with a child born on or after 1 July 2018 are eligible
• No income test applies in the first year

Years 2 and 3 (age 1 to age 3):

• The payment becomes income-tested from the child's first birthday
• If your annual family income exceeds NZ$79,000, the Best Start payment begins to abate
• The payment reduces as part of the overall Working for Families abatement (27 cents per dollar over the threshold)

Eligibility requirements:

• Your child must have been born on or after 1 July 2018
• You must be the principal caregiver for the child
• You must be a New Zealand tax resident
• You must have an IRD number for yourself and your child

How to apply:

• Register your child's birth with the Department of Internal Affairs
• Apply for an IRD number for your child
• Apply for Best Start through your myIR account or by contacting IRD
• Many families apply at the same time as registering the birth

Important upcoming change: From 1 April 2026, the income test will apply from the first year of a child's life, meaning Best Start will no longer be universal in the first year. The rate is also expected to increase to NZ$77 per week from that date.