The financial year has come to an end.
April 1 means we’ll see a whole bunch of policies and adjustments – everything from crayfish catch limits and Pharmac funding to changes to the Living Wage and the minimum wage.
Superannuitants, working families, students and beneficiaries are among those who will receive additional support.
Power bills are expected to increase after the Commerce Commission agreed a couple of years ago to let local lines companies charge households and businesses more.
Around 960,000 Kiwis receiving New Zealand Superannuation and the Veterans’ Pension will get increased payments.
New Zealand Superannuation for a married couple who both qualify will lift more than $50 to $1708 a fortnight.
Around 280,000 low-to middle-income families will receive an increase in the family tax credit. Eligible families with one child will receive an extra $400 a year, rising to $720 for families with two children and $1050 with three.
Budget 2025 changes to the Working for Families abatement threshold come into effect from April 1, and will support around 142,000 families with a boost of $14 per fortnight on average.
Around 52,000 students will receive additional assistance. A single person over 24 receiving the Student Allowance will gain an additional $22 a fortnight.
Over 435,000 working-age beneficiaries will get increased support. A single person over 25 years old on Jobseeker Support will receive an additional $22 a fortnight. A couple with children will receive an additional $40 a fortnight (on top of the family tax credit increase).
The default Kiwisaver contribution rate rises to 3.5% for both employers and employees, so many employers will be contributing an amount equal to an additional 0.5% of their wage bill from that date.
This only applies to employers who have structured KiwiSaver contributions in the traditional way, where an employee contribution is matched by an employer contribution on top of their pay.
When the change was announced, Treasury said it expected 80% of the employer cost to be met by lower-than-expected pay rises.
The adult minimum wage rate will increase by 2% to $23.95 an hour from April 1, 2026, benefiting around 122,500 working New Zealanders.
The Living Wage, adopted by over 340 employers across the country, has risen to $29.90 – up from $28.95, a 3.28% increase.
Living Wage employers have until September 1 to implement it.
The Commerce Commission agreed in 2024 to let local lines companies and national grid operator Transpower charge households and businesses more.
Prices went up by $10 from April last year, $5 this year and will go up $5 a year until 2029 – for “significant investment required to maintain and upgrade New Zealand’s electricity network over the coming years”.
New Customs and Ministry for Primary Industries fees could hit low-value imports.
Consumer NZ warned that the increase, though small, could be noticeable on ultra-cheap items and might change how people shop.
From April 1, goods worth $1000 or less will attract charges of $2.21 for air freight and $2.09 for sea freight, while inward international mail will be $1.28 per kilogram.
International trans-shipments, parcels that pass through another country en route to New Zealand, will cost $1.46 by air and $1.34 by sea.
Low-value exports will cost $2.48 by air and $3.22 by sea. All fees are exclusive of GST.
Pharmac is making the cystic fibrosis treatment Trikafta available for all eligible children from today – not just those aged 6 and older.
It’s also widening funding for the medicine Kalydeco – and funding Alyftrek for the first time.
People living with a type of blood cancer, systemic anaplastic large cell lymphoma (sALCL), will benefit from wider access to the medicine brentuximab vedotin from April 1.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about these changes, and what it means for our economy, with NZ Herald business editor-at-large, Liam Dann.
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald, available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.