Huge Response to Supporting Children discussion document on child support
14 October 2010
Revenue Minister Peter Dunne says more than 1,250 submissions have already been received on the Child Support Review. He says this shows the high level of interest in reform in this area and he is urging people who have yet to make a submission to have their say before submissions close on 29 October.
“They can make their submissions either in writing or by taking part in an online consultation which gives a brief description of the issues and seeks participants’ views on them,” said Mr Dunne.
“Contributions received will have a big influence on ensuring that we have a child support scheme that works as effectively as possible, for the well-being of our children.”
Mr Dunne says that the time is right for changes to the scheme, pointing out that he receives a high volume of correspondence expressing dissatisfaction with the current scheme.
The Supporting Children discussion document outlined a range of options for improving the scheme, including changing the formula that determines the amount of child support payable to take into account factors such as the cost of raising children today, the degree of shared care between parents who are living apart, and the income of both parents.
“My aim is to make the scheme fairer and to take into account changes in society since the scheme was originally introduced in 1992,” said Mr Dunne.
The document also asks whether child support payments should be automatically deducted from employees' income, and whether the penalty and write-off rules for child support need to be amended to provide better and more effective incentives to pay.
The discussion document Supporting Children is available at www.taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz/publications/2010-dd-supporting-children/overview
The online consultation is available at www.supportingchildren.ird.govt.nz
Submissions close on Friday, 29 October 2010.
ENDS
Hayden Cox
Ministerial Advisor to Hon Peter Dunne
Minister of Revenue | Associate Minister of Health | MP for Ohariu | UnitedFuture Leader
Tel: DDI 04 8176991 | Mobile: 021 917339