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Child Support Act 1991

Amount of child support payable under formula assessment made by Commissioner - Amounts payable in respect of receiving carers

36A: Where parent is sole receiving carer

You could also call this:

“How child support is calculated when one parent cares for the child most of the time”

If you are a parent who is the only person caring for a child who qualifies for child support, this law applies to you. The amount of child support you might have to pay is worked out in two ways. The first way is based on the difference between your income percentage and your care cost percentage. The second way is called the multi-group cap. You would pay whichever amount is lower.

However, you don’t have to pay any child support if you care for the child less than 35% of the time. This means if you only look after the child for a small part of the week, you won’t need to pay child support.

The law uses a special calculation to figure out how much you might need to pay. It looks at your income and how much time you spend caring for the child. If you want to know exactly how this is worked out, you can look at section 30 of the Child Support Act.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM6438942.

Topics:
Family and relationships > Children and parenting
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36: Multi-group allowance, or

"An extra amount subtracted from your income if you pay child support for children in different groups"

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36B: Where no receiving carers are parents, or

"What happens when the people caring for a child aren't their parents"

Part 2 Amount of child support payable under formula assessment made by Commissioner
Amounts payable in respect of receiving carers

36AWhere parent is sole receiving carer

  1. This section applies where, in respect of a qualifying child, there is only 1 receiving carer, and that carer (person P) is a parent of the child.

  2. When this section applies, the amount of child support payable in respect of person P is—

  3. the amount of annual child support that person P would pay if the difference between person P's income percentage and care cost percentage (which, under the formula in section 30, is a negative percentage) were a positive percentage; or
    1. if the multi-group cap applies, the amount payable under the multi-group cap, but only if it is less than the amount payable under paragraph (a).

      1. However, no child support is payable under subsection (2) in respect of a receiving carer of a qualifying child if the receiving carer provides less than 35% of ongoing daily care to the child.

      Notes
      • Section 36A: inserted, on , by section 12 of the Child Support Amendment Act 2013 (2013 No 12).