By Susan Edmunds of RNZ
The start of July brings a raft of changes that will affect households throughout the country.
From prescription changes to mortgage tweaks, the rules, fees and taxes will have an impact on the way many people spend and borrow money.
Here are a few of them.
New debt-to-income rules will limit how much banks can lend to borrowers, compared with their household income.
Only 20% of lending can go to owner-occupier buyers with a debt-to-income ratio of six, and only 20% of investors loans will be able to be at a debt-to-income ratio of more than seven.
The debt-to-income calculation takes into account other debt such as student loans.
These rules are not expected to make a big difference initially, because not much lending is being done above those levels. However, they are likely to limit the extent of future house price growth.
At the same time, loan-to-value rules will be eased slightly to allow banks to give 20% of lending to owner-occupier borrowers with a deposit or equity of less than 20%, and 5% of lending to investors with a deposit or equity of less than 30%.
Previously, they could lend only 15% to owner-occupiers with less than 20% deposit and 5% of lending to investors with less than 35%.
A $5 charge is coming back for prescriptions.
This does not apply to people over 65, Community Services Card holders, those under 14, or 14-17 and dependent on a Community Services Card holder.
The Auckland Regional Fuel Tax scheme ended 30 June 30.
This is worth 11.5¢ a litre on petrol, diesel and their biovariants.
The FamilyBoost policy takes effect from July 1, offering a payment of 25 % of early childhood education fees for households up to $75 a week.
This is available in full to households earning up to $140,000, and reduces for those earning up to $170,000.
Households should start saving their invoices from July 1 as either PDF or JPG files, Inland Revenue says.
Payments will be made in three-monthly blocks starting in October.
From July 1, the bright-line test will reduce 10 years to two years, or five years for new builds.
The bright-line test sets a limit on how long properties, apart from someone’s main home, have to be held to avoid tax on capital gains when they are sold.
That means properties sold on or after Monday will need to have been held for at least two years to avoid the automatic tax.
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand is warning there could be some confusion, though, because the new rules focus on the “disposal” date of a property rather than the acquisition date.
“Care needs to be taken as the dates are determined differently. The bright-line end date is determined by when the seller first enters a contract for sale, whereas the start or acquisition date is typically determined when title transfers.”
He said that could mean anyone who had entered negotiations before July 1could still be captured under the old rule.
Each year, the maximum amount of paid parental leave available increases.
How much you get is determined by what you were earning before you went on leave.
From July 1, the maximum is $754.87 a week before tax, compared with $712.17 previously.
From July 1, a 12% offshore gambling duty applies to operators taking bets from New Zealand residents.
Offshore gambling operators have to register for GST if they make more than $60,000 in a 120-month period. Those that are registered for GST must also now register for the duty.
The annual adjustment of excise tax on alcohol takes place on July 1. This is based on movements in the consumer price index in the year to March.
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