Cost of Living Payment

Posted on 08 Aug 2022

And why you may not have received yours

The first payment date of the Cost of Living payment for most people was the 1 August 2022 (of $116.67). If you haven't received yours and you meet the eligibility criteria, then one reason could be because your 2022 income tax return has not yet been filed. This is not a cause for alarm; your accountant is aware that this could be a reason you haven't yet received this payment. As soon as your tax return is filed, the payment will be processed. In some situations, you may get some of the main payments and a lump sum, or just a lump sum. Find out more under 'Your income tax assessment or return will confirm your income' section on this webpage. Inland Revenue will confirm your eligibility for the payment based on your income for the 2022 tax year. Depending on your situation, you will have:

• received your automatically issued income tax assessment
• provided more information or confirmed the details on your assessment, and this has been confirmed by us
• filed your Individual income tax return - IR3 (and it's been processed by us).

If your income assessment is completed after any of the 3 main Cost of Living Payments have been paid and you are eligible for it, you'll get either:

• any payments that have not been made yet and a lump sum of any payments you were eligible for but missed
• a lump sum based on the number of payments you are entitled to if all payment dates have passed.

Your return may be filed after the payments have been made because for example, you have a tax agent with an extension of time to file your return. To be eligible you must have your return filed by the final date, 31 March 2023. If you do not receive a tax assessment for the 2022 year, you will not be eligible for the payment. There is no minimum income requirement, You could have zero net income and still qualify, as long you do need to have a tax assessment. You may be eligible to get 1, 2 or all 3 payments. Inland Revenue will check to see if you're eligible to get the Cost of Living Payment before each monthly payment is made. Some people may not be eligible for all 3 payments. Payments will not be paid for a part of the month. If you're eligible when we check, you'll get the full payment for that month. The final date to be eligible for the Cost of Living Payment is 31 March 2023. More information about this can be found on the IR website: https://www.ird.govt.nz/cost-of-living-payment