desmondo84

Hi
FLying out on the 26th and just want to check what to do about child benefit. DO you need to notify them straight away. Their websise says you have to tell them if you're away for more than 8 weeks so do you tell them after 8 weeks or up front?
cheers
D

MrsFychan

if you are coming over on anything other than a visitors visa you should tell them before you leave. you are not entitled to payments if you are not going to be resident.

RobDon

We got told you are able to claim CB for up to 12 months after leaving the country on any visa except PR.
Having said that, that was over 5yrs ago.

MrsFychan

they will ask you questions of departure dates etc and work out accordingly

desmondo84

cheers guys - will let them know on Monday.

Are there any kids benefits in NZ I should be aware of? Ours are 2 and 3.

RobDon

Have a look here. Working for Families Tax Credits

MOSO

Almost certainly you won't be eligible for anything in NZ as you have to be an NZ permanent resident and have lived in NZ for at least 1 year before you can apply. It is also means tested based on household income.

Annoyingly the IRD still send me letters about my tax code being incorrect every 6 months due to not claiming for Working for families tax credit so I phone them and then they tell me I'm not eligible

RobDon

Sorry to disagree with you MOSO, but we were able to claim Family Tax Credits within a couple of weeks of arriving.

MOSO

Not sure, but I know we've never been able to claim for anything despite OH being Kiwi.

I was just being nosy having received yet another letter from the IRD about my tax code, only for them to tell me I'm not eligible so I followed your link which states

You must meet at least one of the following residency requirements:
• you’re a New Zealand resident and have been in New Zealand continuously for at least 12 months at any time. You must be both a tax resident and resident in New Zealand when you apply for your payments, or
• the child(ren) you’re claiming for are both resident(s) and present in New Zealand.

RobDon

Should have clarified, this was back in 2009 when we applied.
Thankfully things changed, and we no longer qualified when OH got a job.

Jan n Neil

On a side note wouldn,t the UK be so much better off if they just had the same few simple rules in place ?

Neil

Shaz Crocker

hi, just a warning we didn't tell them and got a letter asking us to pay back all the overpayments!

RobDon