Customs and Excise Act 2018

Administrative provisions - Disclosure of information - Disclosure to government agencies

308: Information matching for purposes of benefit and benefit debt recovery

You could also call this:

"Checking you get the right benefits by sharing information about you"

Illustration for Customs and Excise Act 2018

The government wants to make sure you get the right benefits. To do this, the Customs and the department responsible for benefits will share some information about you. They will check if you are eligible for a benefit and how much you should get. They will also use this information to recover any debt you owe to the government because of a benefit.

The department will give Customs some details about you, like your name and date of birth. Customs will then check this information with the details they have about your arrivals and departures from New Zealand. If Customs finds a match, they will share this information with the department.

The Customs and the department bosses can agree on how often and how they will share this information. On or after 1 December 2020, they can only share information if they have an agreement under the Privacy Act 1993 or the Privacy Act 2020. They can also share information if they have an approved information sharing agreement under the Privacy Act 2020.

A benefit is money the government gives you to help you. The department is the government agency that looks after benefits. A specified person is someone who has applied for a benefit or is getting a benefit. But it does not include people who do not have to follow the usual rules when entering or leaving New Zealand.

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This page was last updated on 1 October 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM7039706.

Topics:

Money and consumer rights > TaxesMoney and consumer rights > Government benefitsGovernment and voting > Government departmentsRights and equality > Privacy

307: Information matching for purposes of Child Support Act 1991, or

"Sharing information to help parents pay child support debts"

309: Information matching for purposes of mutual assistance provision contained in social security agreement, or

"Sharing information with other countries to help with social security benefits"

Part 5Administrative provisions
Disclosure of information: Disclosure to government agencies

308Information matching for purposes of benefit and benefit debt recovery

The purpose of this section is to facilitate the exchange of information between Customs and the department for the purposes of assisting the chief executive of the department to—
verify the entitlement or eligibility of any specified person to or for any benefit:
verify the amount of any benefit to which a specified person is or was entitled or for which a specified person is or was eligible:
enable the recovery of any debt due to the Crown by a specified person in respect of any benefit.

For the purpose of this section, the chief executive of the department may supply to the chief executive of Customs any identifying information about a specified person.
If, in relation to any specified person, identifying information is supplied in accordance with subsection (2), the chief executive of Customs may compare that information with any arrival and departure information held by Customs that relates to that specified person.
If Customs has information relating to a specified person, the chief executive of Customs may, for the purpose of this section, supply to the chief executive of the department any of the specified person’s arrival and departure information.
The chief executive of Customs and the chief executive of the department may, for the purposes of this section, determine by written agreement between them—
the frequency with which information may be supplied; and
the form in which information may be supplied; and
the method by which information may be supplied.

On or after 1 December 2020, no information may be supplied under this section except under—
an information matching agreement entered into under Part 10 of the Privacy Act 1993 and continued by clause 11 of Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 2020; or
an approved information sharing agreement entered into under subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020.

In this section,—
benefit means any of the following:
1. a benefit as defined in Schedule 2 of the Social Security Act 2018:
2. a funeral grant lump sum payable under section 90 of that Act:
3. any special assistance payable under a programme approved under section 100 or 101 of that Act:
4. an allowance established by regulations made under section 645 of the Education and Training Act 2020
department means the department for the time being responsible for the administration of the Social Security Act 2018
specified person—
1. means a person—
  1. who has applied for a benefit:
  2. in respect of whom an application for a benefit has been made:
  3. who has been granted a benefit:
  4. in respect of whom a benefit, or part of a benefit, has been granted; but
2. does not include a person who is exempted by regulations or a special direction made under the Immigration Act 2009 from the requirement to—
  1. apply for a visa or entry permission in the prescribed manner under section 103(1)(b), (c), and (d) of that Act; or
  2. complete documentation on departure from New Zealand under section 119(1)(c) of that Act.

Compare

1996 No 27 s 280

Notes

Section 308(5A): inserted, on 1 December 2020, by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
Section 308(6) benefit: replaced, on 26 November 2018, by section 459 of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).
Section 308(6) benefit paragraph (d): amended, on 1 August 2020, by section 668 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (2020 No 38).
Section 308(6) department: replaced, on 26 November 2018, by section 459 of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).