FamilyBoost: Information for Parents and Caregivers
What is FamilyBoost?
FamilyBoost is a new childcare payment that will be made to eligible households, to help with the costs of early childhood education (ECE) incurred after the 20 Hours Free and MSD Childcare Subsidy have been taken into account.
It’s a retrospective lump sum payment.
It’s available on a per household (rather than per child) basis.
You can only claim once in a three-month period.
Who is eligible for FamilyBoost?
You will be eligible to receive FamilyBoost if:
your household earns up to $180,000 and
you have costs from a licensed ECE provider.
FamilyBoost Payment Amounts
What you will be able to get back is based on what you earn, up to a maximum amount of $975 every three months. This is the equivalent of $75 per week, paid in a three-monthly lump sum.
The payment slowly reduces for household incomes over $140,000 to a maximum of $180,000, as shown in the table below.
Payment Periods
The first FamilyBoost payment will be paid in October 2024.
If you’re eligible and apply, from 1 October you’ll be able to claim your previous three-month ECE invoices for the period 1 July – 30 September.The second FamilyBoost payment will be paid in January 2025.
This will cover invoices for the period 1 October 2024 – 31 December 2024.
What do you need to do?
Start saving your ECE invoices from 1 July in either a PDF or JPEG format.
Make sure that the name on your ECE invoice matches your details in your myIR account, and that all your other details are up to date in myIR.
More information
You can find further information about FamilyBoost on the IRD website.
To check if your ECE provider is licensed visit: educationcounts.govt.nz
If you have a specific question based on your circumstances, please get in touch with your CT Advisor.
Cheers
Sarah
Sarah Miskell, Director
_
This article contains general information only and based on information available at the date of publication. You should obtain advice for your personal circumstances.