Source document: https://docs-lawep.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/1698830388058.pdf (New Zealand)
Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 Public Act Date of assent 2005 No 30 14 April 2005 Contents Title Commencement Part 1 Amendments to Social Security Act 1964 Interpretation Interpretation Accommodation supplement Disability allowance Rates of beneﬁts for sole parents may be reduced Commencement of beneﬁts Interpretation Calculation of stand down Ending of beneﬁts New section 83A inserted 83A Unemployment beneﬁt rates Money payable out of Crown Bank Account Cost of repair and replacement of artiﬁcial limbs Tax on beneﬁts Part 2 Consequential amendments and savings provision 16 Consequential amendments to Income Tax Acts Page 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 5 5 6 6 6 6 8 8 8 8 1 s 1 17 18 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 2005 No 30 Consequential amendments to regulations Savings in respect of tax on beneﬁts 9 9 The Parliament of New Zealand enacts as follows: Title This Act is the Social Security (Social Assistance) Amend­ ment Act 2005.
In this Act, the Social Security Act 1964 is called “the principal Act”.

Commencement Sections 4(3) and 7(3) come into force on 1 July 2005.

Sections 9(1) and (3) and 10(1) come into force on 1 May 2005.

The rest of this Act comes into force on the day after the date on which it receives the Royal assent.

Part 1 Amendments to Social Security Act 1964 Interpretation The deﬁnition of beneﬁt in section 3(1) of the principal Act is amended by repealing subparagraph (ia) of paragraph (b).
The deﬁnition of income­tested beneﬁt in section 3(1) of the principal Act is amended by repealing paragraph (h).

The deﬁnition of transitional retirement beneﬁt in section 3(1) of the principal Act is repealed.

Interpretation The deﬁnition of beneﬁciary in section 61E(1) of the principal Act is amended by omitting, from paragraph (b), the words “, a transitional retirement beneﬁt,”.
The deﬁnition of cash assets in section 61E(1) of the principal Act is amended by repealing paragraph (a)(i), and substituting the following subparagraph: 1 (1) (2) 2 (1) (2) (3) 3 (1) (2) (3) 4 (1) (2) 2 2005 No 30 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 Part 1 s 7 “(i) money saved with a bank or other institution, money invested with a bank or other institution, or money banked with a bank or other institution:”.
The deﬁnition of owner in section 61E(1) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, after paragraph (b), the following paragraph: (3) “(ba) a licence to occupy, where the premises are a residential unit in a retirement village (as those terms are deﬁned in the Re­ tirement Villages Act 2003); or”.

5 6 (1) (2) Accommodation supplement Section 61EA(3) of the principal Act is amended by insert­ ing, after the word “superannuation”, the words “or a veteran’s pension”.
Disability allowance Section 69C(1)(a) of the principal Act is amended by omitting the words “on the ground speciﬁed in section 60F(6), or a tran­ sitional retirement beneﬁt”.

Section 69C(5)(a) of the principal Act is amended by omitting the words “or a transitional retirement beneﬁt”.

7 (1) Rates of beneﬁts for sole parents may be reduced Section 70A(1)(b) of the principal Act is amended by repeal­ ing subparagraph (iiia).
Section 70A(1) of the principal Act is amended by repealing paragraph (c), and substituting the following paragraph: “(c) who, in respect of any dependent child in the care of the bene­ (2) ﬁciary, fails or refuses— “(i) “(ii) to identify who is in law the other parent of that child; or to make an application for formula assessment of child support, when required to do so by section 9 of the Child Support Act 1991; or “(iii) to attend and give in evidence all information that is re­ quired of the beneﬁciary during a hearing of a proceed­ ing under the Child Support Act 1991, as required under section 122 of that Act.” 3 Part 1 s 7 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 2005 No 30 (3) Section 70A(3) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, after paragraph (b), the following paragraphs: “(ba) the beneﬁciary or any of the beneﬁciary’s children would be at risk of violence if the beneﬁciary carried out or took steps to carry out any of the actions referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iii) of subsection (1)(c); or (4) “(bb) there is a compelling circumstance, other than a circumstance mentioned elsewhere in this subsection, for the beneﬁciary’s failure or refusal to carry out any of the actions set out in sub­ paragraphs (i) to (iii) of subsection (1)(c), and, even if the beneﬁciary carried out the action, there is no real likelihood of child support being collected in the foreseeable future from the other parent, or, as the case may be, the other parent’s es­ tate; or”.
Section 70A of the principal Act is amended by repealing sub­ section (4), and substituting the following subsections: “(4) A reduction of the rate of beneﬁt under subsection (2) in re­ spect of a dependent child in the care of the beneﬁciary ceases to apply to a beneﬁciary who subsequently carries out the ac­ tion referred to in subparagraph (i), (ii), or (iii) of subsection (1)(c) that the beneﬁciary failed or refused to carry out in re­ spect of that child.
If a beneﬁciary’s rate of beneﬁt has been reduced under sub­ section (2), it must be reduced by a further $6 if the circum­ stances in subsection (6) exist.
“(5) “(6) The circumstances are that— “(a) a period of not less than 13 weeks has elapsed after the date on which the beneﬁciary’s rate of beneﬁt was reduced under subsection (2); and “(b) during the period referred to in paragraph (a), the chief executive has given the beneﬁciary a reasonable oppor­ tunity to reconsider his or her decision not to carry out the action referred to in subparagraphs (i) to (iii) of sub­ section (1)(c) that led to that reduction.
“(7) A further reduction made under subsection (5) to a beneﬁ­ ciary’s rate of beneﬁt must not exceed $6, regardless of the number of the beneﬁciary’s dependent children to whom sub­ section (1)(c) applies.

4 2005 No 30 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 Part 1 s 9 “(8) A reduction of the rate of beneﬁt under subsection (5) ceases to apply where the rate of beneﬁt has ceased to be reduced under subsection (2).
“(9) For the purposes of this section— “violence has the same meaning as in section 3 of the Domes­ tic Violence Act 1995.” (5) Despite anything in section 70A(5) (as inserted by subsec­ tion (4) of this section), no further reduction under section 70A(5) may be made with effect earlier than 1 July 2005.

8 (1) (2) Commencement of beneﬁts Section 80(2)(b) of the principal Act is amended by omitting the words “a transitional retirement beneﬁt,”.
Section 80(14)(b) of the principal Act is amended by omitting the words “A transitional retirement beneﬁt or”.
9 (1) Interpretation Section 80B of the principal Act is amended by repealing the deﬁnitions of average income and average income calcula­ tion period, and substituting the following deﬁnitions: “average income, in relation to a person, means the person’s speci­ ﬁed income divided by the number of weeks in the average income calculation period “average income calculation period, means— “(a) if the person has made an election under section 80BA(1A), the period of 52 weeks immediately before the later of— “(i) in relation to a person, the date the person became entitled to receive the bene­ ﬁt; or if the person’s employment terminated or the person is given notice of termination of employment before he or she applied for the beneﬁt, the date the person’s employment ceased; or “(ii) “(b) (2) in any other case, the period of 26 weeks immediately before the later of the dates referred to in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of paragraph (a)”.
The deﬁnition of income in section 80B of the principal Act is amended by repealing subparagraph (x) of paragraph (a).
5 Part 1 s 10 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 2005 No 30 (3) Section 80B of the principal Act is amended by adding the following deﬁnition: “(b) “speciﬁed income, in relation to a person, means— “(a) the person’s income in the average income calculation period; and the amount of any redundancy payment or retirement payment, before the deduction of income tax, not included in the per­ son’s income under paragraph (a) and made to the person— “(i) “(ii) before the person’s employment ceased; or in the 52 weeks after the date on which the employment ceased.” 10 (1) Calculation of stand down Section 80BA of the principal Act is amended by inserting, after subsection (1), the following subsection: “(1A) A person who is entitled to a beneﬁt to which this section applies may elect to have his or her average income calculated by reference to a period of 52 weeks instead of 26 weeks.” Section 80BA(4)(b)(i) of the principal Act is amended by omitting the words “a sickness beneﬁt, or a transitional retire­ ment beneﬁt”, and substituting “or a sickness beneﬁt”.
(2) 11 12 Ending of beneﬁts Section 80BD(3) of the principal Act is amended by omitting the words “a transitional retirement beneﬁt,”.

New section 83A inserted The principal Act is amended by inserting, after section 83, the following section: “83A Tax on beneﬁts “(1) This section applies where any instalment or a payment of an income­tested beneﬁt is a source deduction payment.
“(2) Where this section applies, the chief executive may, instead of making a tax deduction from the source deduction payment, pay to the Commissioner of Inland Revenue, at such time as the Commissioner determines in consultation with the chief executive, an amount for income tax payable on that payment, calculated in accordance with subsection (3).
6 2005 No 30 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 Part 1 s 12 “(3) The amount for income tax payable on a source deduction pay­ ment is the amount of the tax deduction that would be made, at the rate determined under the appropriate speciﬁed provision, if the payment were increased by an amount that, after the tax deduction were made, would result in an amount equal to the source deduction payment.
“(4) An amount for income tax paid to the Commissioner under subsection (2) must,— “(a) “(b) for the purposes of this Act, be considered to be a pay­ ment of a beneﬁt, within the meaning of that term in section 3(1), made on account of, and received by, the person; and for the purposes of— “(i) the Income Tax Act 1976, be considered to be assessable income of the person; or the Income Tax Act 1994, be considered to be gross income of the person; or “(ii) “(5) “(6) “(iii) the Income Tax Act 2004, be considered to be income of the person.
If, as a result of the review, suspension, cancellation, or ter­ mination of an income­tested beneﬁt, the chief executive de­ termines that an amount for tax on the beneﬁt has been paid in accordance with this section to the Commissioner in excess of the amount that is properly payable under this section, the chief executive may not recover the excess amount as a debt due to the Crown within the meaning of section 85A, but may recover that amount by— “(a) making an adjustment to any amount subsequently payable to the Commissioner under subsection (2) in respect of the source deduction payments for that or any other beneﬁt payable to that beneﬁciary; or “(b) making such other arrangements for its refund as are agreed with the Commissioner.
In this section,— “income­tested beneﬁt has the meaning given to that term by section 2 of the Income Tax Act 1976 or section OB 1 of the Income Tax Act 1994 or section OB 1 of the Income Tax Act 2004 (whichever is applicable) and not the meaning in section 3(1) of this Act 7 Part 1 s 13 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 2005 No 30 “source deduction payment has the meaning given to that term by section 2 of the Income Tax Act 1976 or section OB 1 of the Income Tax Act 1994 or section OB 1 of the Income Tax Act 2004 (whichever is applicable) “speciﬁed provision, in relation to a source deduction pay­ ment, means (as the case requires)— “(a) the fourth proviso to section 343(1) of the Income Tax Act 1976; or the fourth proviso to section NC 6(1) of the Income Tax Act 1994; or section NC 6(1D) of the Income Tax Act 1994; or section NC 6(1D) of the Income Tax Act 2004.” “(b) “(c) “(d) 13 Unemployment beneﬁt rates Section 99(4) of the principal Act is amended by inserting, after paragraph (a), the following paragraph: “(ab) the application of section 117 (which relates to sanctions that may be imposed for failures to comply with work test and work preparation interviews and exercises); or”.
14 Money payable out of Crown Bank Account Section 124(1) of the principal Act is amended by repealing paragraph (da).

15 Cost of repair and replacement of artiﬁcial limbs Section 126 of the principal Act is amended by omitting the words “Rehabilitation League N.Z.

(Incorporated)”, and sub­ stituting the words “New Zealand Artiﬁcial Limb Board”.
Part 2 Consequential amendments and savings provision Consequential amendments to Income Tax Acts The deﬁnition of income­tested beneﬁt in section OB 1 of the Income Tax Act 1994 is amended by omitting the words “and includes a transitional retirement beneﬁt payable under Part 1 of the Social Welfare (Transitional Provisions) Act 1990;”.
16 (1) 8 2005 No 30 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 Part 2 s 18 (2) (3) 17 (1) (2) (3) “(b) 18 (1) (2) The deﬁnition of New Zealand superannuation in section OB 1 of the Income Tax Act 1994 is amended by repealing paragraph (c)(ii).

The deﬁnition of New Zealand superannuation in section OB 1 of the Income Tax Act 2004 is amended by repealing paragraph (c)(ii).
Consequential amendments to regulations The Health Entitlement Cards Regulations 1993 (SR 1993/169) are amended by omitting from regulation 8(1)(a) the words “a transitional retirement beneﬁt granted under section 7A of the Social Welfare (Transitional Provi­ sions) Act 1990, or”.

The Social Security (Period of Income Assessment) Regulations 1996 (SR 1996/128) are amended by omit­ ting from item 1 in the Schedule the words “Transitional retirement beneﬁt”.
The Taxation (Abated Interim Payments of Part KD Credit) Regulations 2002 (SR 2002/52) are amended by revoking regulation 3(1)(b) and (c), and substituting the following paragraph: an emergency beneﬁt payable under the Social Security Act 1964 if that beneﬁt is payable at a rate that is equal to or more than the rate of an invalid’s beneﬁt that the person would be entitled to if he or she were qualiﬁed to receive that beneﬁt.” Savings in respect of tax on beneﬁts For the purpose of determining the validity of any payment for tax on an income­tested beneﬁt, the principal Act must be read as if at all material times it contained section 83A, as inserted by section 12 of this Act.
In this section, income­tested beneﬁt has the meaning given to it in section 83A(6) of the principal Act, as inserted by sec­ tion 12 of this Act.
9 Social Security (Social Assistance) Amendment Act 2005 2005 No 30 8 September 2004 5 October 2004 15 March 2005 31 March 2005 5 April 2005 12 April 2005 Legislative history Introduction (Bill 193­1) First reading and referral to Social Services Committee Reported from Social Services Committee (Bill 193­2) Second reading Committee of the whole House Third reading 10