New Zealand Best Start: birth dates and income abatement

Best Start supports qualifying families during a child's early years, with first-year income testing determined by the child's birth date.

Full weekly entitlement

$77Inland Revenue, Best Start

Period covered

First 3 years of the child's lifeInland Revenue, Best Start

Family income threshold

$79,000Inland Revenue, Best Start

Abatement rate

21% above the thresholdInland Revenue, Best Start

First-year income exemption

Children born before 1 April 2026Inland Revenue, Best Start birth-date change

The payment and income reduction

Inland Revenue publishes a full Best Start entitlement of $77 a week over the first 3 years of a child's life. Where income testing applies, payments reduce when family income exceeds $79,000. The published abatement rate is 21%. Inland Revenue recalculates abatement for each tax year and rounds instalments down to whole dollars. The headline weekly amount is the full entitlement, rather than a promise that every qualifying family receives that amount. Inland Revenue, Best Start (opens in a new tab).

The first-year rule changed with the birth date

For a child born before 1 April 2026, the first year is not income-tested: the family receives the full Best Start payment irrespective of income. For children born on or after that date, family income determines the payment from the start. The distinction turns on the child's birth date, rather than the application date or the date a family first reads about the payment. The universal first-year rule therefore does not cover all new births. Inland Revenue, Best Start birth-date change (opens in a new tab).

Registration and wider eligibility

Working for Families eligibility requires a principal caregiver caring for a dependent child, meeting residency requirements and being aged 16 or over. Shared care can require an adjustment to payments. Income is consequently only part of the eligibility question. The principal-caregiver, dependent-child and residence requirements remain relevant even where a child's first year is exempt from income testing. A published payment rate does not establish that a particular household qualifies. Inland Revenue, Working for Families eligibility (opens in a new tab).

Paid parental leave changes the start of payments

Best Start for the new child cannot be received alongside paid parental leave. It can begin when those parental leave payments finish. Other qualifying Working for Families payments may be received during paid parental leave, and Best Start for previous children can continue where eligible. Families receiving Working for Families in a year-end lump sum receive Best Start within that lump sum, rather than necessarily as separate weekly bank deposits. Inland Revenue, family payments and parental leave (opens in a new tab).

The later years and this guide's limits

For children born before 1 April 2026, the second and third years are income-tested above the same published family income threshold. For later births, testing already applies in the first year. Inland Revenue requires registration for Working for Families to receive Best Start. Inland Revenue, Best Start (opens in a new tab).

This is general information about published rules. It does not calculate adjusted family income, shared-care allocation, partial-year entitlement or a repayment of overpaid instalments. No Best Start calculator or calculated household example is provided here.

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