About 140,000 families with children will receive an extra $50 per week through a boost to the in-work tax credit as the Government seeks to provide relief amid increasing fuel prices.

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Finance Minister Nicola Willis are revealing the support package at Parliament today.

According to a statement from Willis, the increase would begin from April 7 and be paid weekly or fortnightly depending on when people were paid.

The in-work tax credit is a payment to families with dependent children where at least one parent is in paid employment and neither parent receives a main benefit from Work and Income.

In the current tax year, 2025/26, the cut-off for receiving the tax credit is around $89,000 of annual family income for a family with one child, $112,000 for a family with two children and $135,000 for a family with three children.

The added payment would last for one year or until the price of 91 octane petrol drops below $3 a litre for four consecutive weeks.

It was estimated to cost $373 million for the year. Willis has promised the cost would be met within the Government’s operating allowance.

Luxon has previously said there is no need to panic as ships carrying fuel struggle to get through the Strait of Hormuz amid the conflict in the Middle East.

Willis said on Monday that the Government’s focus was on “workers ... families with children ... and low-to-middle income households”.

The IWTC does not go to families who do not work and live on a benefit, meaning some of the poorest households are excluded. The Government has signalled clearly it would be targeting support at workers rather than beneficiaries.

Willis has noted that any support would be “temporary” and “timely”. The Government has levers it could pull to temporarily increase the tax credit threshold.

On Monday, new figures on New Zealand’s fuel stock reserves and shipments on the way to New Zealand showed that as of March 18, the country had 49.9 days’ worth of petrol. There was 45.5 days of diesel and 44.7 days of jet fuel.

The combined stock total of fuel either in-country or on the water was 46.9 days. The next update is expected tomorrow.

Also yesterday, Associate Energy Minister Shane Jones announced plans to let fuel that meets Australian criteria into the country to provide fuel importers with more options and wipe “unnecessary technical barriers” amid the tightening global fuel market.

“Countries that can access a wider range of shipments are better placed to keep fuel flowing,” Jones said.

Over the weekend, petrol hit $4 a litre in some Auckland suburbs, with an average of $3.30 a litre for unleaded 91 and $3.61 a litre for unleaded 98 across the country.

Speaking at a press conference shortly after his Cabinet meeting on Monday, Luxon said New Zealanders did not need to “panic” over fuel levels and that he wanted to reassure people “we don’t have a supply problem”.

At that press conference, Willis and Luxon warned that the soon-to-be-announced support would be “targeted”. Although fuel prices and other economic offshoots from the conflict were “impacting almost every New Zealander, unfortunately, the Government is not in a position to mitigate that impact on everyone”.

This month, the Government launched the “National Fuel Plan” with similarities to the Covid alert level system in that it included four levels of escalation to respond to degrees of disruption to fuel supply.

The fewest rules and conditions are at Level 1, while the most severe are found at Level 4. New Zealand is currently at level 1 which primarily involves the Government coordinating with industry to limit any potential disruption.

Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.