Skip to main content
Ministry of Social Development | Te Manatū Whakahiato Ora
Studylink | Hoto Akoranga
  • A-Z
  • Forms
  • Go to the Studylink home page
    Home
  • Starting study
  • In study
  • Returning to study
  • Finished studying
  • Home
  • MyStudyLink Login
  • Online Services
    • Your RealMe login
      • Manage your RealMe account
      • Forgotten username or password
    • MyStudyLink
      • What you can do in MyStudyLink
      • Can’t log in to MyStudyLink
    • Apply
      • First-time students
      • Returning application in MyStudyLink
      • Apply in MyStudyLink
      • Help with applying online
      • Information you'll need
      • Help with filling in the online form
      • Documents supporting your application
      • Verifying copies of original documents
      • How to send us your documents
      • Application status in MyStudyLink
      • When do payments start
    • Eligibility test
      • What the test assesses you for
      • Eligibility test disclaimer and privacy information
  • Emergency events
  • Starting study
    • How StudyLink works
    • Thinking about study
      • What and where to study
      • Your costs while studying
      • How to pay for study
      • Scholarships
      • Moving from benefit to study
      • Information for parents
    • What's available
      • Student Allowance
      • Student Loan
      • Extra help
      • Help for partners
      • On a benefit
      • Studying part-time
      • Studying overseas
      • Coming to NZ to study
    • Apply
    • Student Allowance
    • Student Loan
  • In study
    • Change in circumstances
      • Age changes
      • Address and contact details
      • Bank account
      • Cancel your loan
      • Change course or programme
      • Change papers
      • Children in your care
      • Going overseas
      • Change living costs
      • Relationships
      • Tax code
      • Change education provider
    • Childcare
      • Absent from childcare
      • Change in hours
      • Change in reason you get payment
      • Child moves providers
      • Child no longer in your care
      • Start or stop 20 hours ECE
      • Continuing pre-school childcare
      • Continuing childcare when your child's at school
      • Extending childcare
      • Moving to OSCAR
      • Add a child
      • Stop payments
      • Child stops childcare
      • Study, work or training
      • Teacher only day
    • Debt
      • Pay from overseas
      • Pay from NZ
    • Urgent or unexpected costs
      • Food
      • Accommodation and moving costs
      • Travel for COVID-19 vaccination
      • Power, gas and water bills or heating
      • Dental treatment
      • Glasses
      • Whiteware (eg, fridge, freezer, washing machine)
      • Car repairs
    • Income
      • Student Allowance
      • Student Loan
      • Childcare
      • Extra help
      • Jobseeker Support Student Hardship
      • Parents income
    • Study details
      • Break between study
      • Change study dates
      • Claim course related costs
      • Drop papers
      • Extending your study
      • Jobseeker Support Student Hardship obligations
      • Not meeting course requirements
      • Pick up papers
      • Student Allowance obligations
      • Student Loan obligations
      • Summer school
      • Unpaid work or research
      • Withdraw
      • Working while studying
  • Returning to study
    • Continue from last semester
    • Took a study break
    • Postgraduate study
    • Returning application
  • Finished studying
    • Help when you finished study
    • What happens to your loan
    • More study
    • Starting work
  • Payments and rates
    • A-Z of payments
      • Student Allowance
      • Student Loan
    • Rates
    • Calculators
  • Forms
  • Glossary
  • About StudyLink
    • Contact us
      • Phone numbers
      • Send evidence
    • News
    • Glossary
    • Our services
      • Appointments
      • Cheap as data
      • Death of a student
      • How StudyLink works
      • About us
    • Agents
    • Complaints
  • About this site
    • Accessibility
    • Privacy, disclaimer and copyright information
    • Online security
    • Site map
  1. Home
  2. About StudyLink
  3. Glossary
  4. Income

About StudyLink

  • Contact us
  • News
  • Glossary
  • Our services
  • Agents
  • Complaints

Income

General definition of income

Income is any money you or your partner get from any source, taxable or non-taxable. This could include, but is not limited to:

  • wages
  • salary
  • termination payment
  • bonus pay
  • holiday pay
  • maintenance payments
  • paid parental leave
  • interest from savings and investments
  • dividends from shares
  • income from a family trust, farm or business
  • income from boarders or rent
  • superannuation
  • overseas benefits and pensions
  • weekly accident insurance payments
  • child support
  • some scholarships
  • Medical Trainee Intern grant
  • any indirect monetary benefits you get such as free board or shares in a business
  • any other income that you have or may deprive yourself of.

If you get Temporary Additional Support, this also includes:

  • Student Allowances
  • the living costs component of the Student Loan
  • Working for Families tax credits
  • all Work and Income benefits except Unsupported Child Benefit and Orphans Benefit.

Getting a scholarship

If you get a scholarship, we'll count this as income for Student Allowance unless it's a:

  • TeachNZ Scholarship (but not Career Changer Scholarship)
  • New Zealand Scholarship
  • Canterbury Earthquake Scholarship
  • Tuli Takes Flight Scholarship.

Any amount of the scholarship that pays for your fees or course-related costs (eg, books, travel, laptop, etc) is not counted as income. The rest of the scholarship is counted as income. To work out your weekly income, divide the rest of the scholarship by the number of weeks that you get the scholarship for.

Getting Medical Trainee Intern Grant

If you get a Medical Trainee Intern Grant, we may count some or all of it as income. How much we count as income will depend if the grant is paid to you as a lump sum or monthly payment.

Lump sum payment

If it’s paid to you as a lump sum, we won’t count any amount that you use to pay for either your:

  • course fees
  • course costs that are over and above normal course costs, eg:
    • air fares
    • additional accommodation when on placement.

The rest of the grant will be divided into a weekly amount. This weekly amount will be counted as income for your Student Allowance.

If you’re unsure whether your course costs are over and above normal course costs, call us to discuss your situation.

Monthly payment

If it’s paid to you monthly, the entire payment will be counted as income.

The monthly total will be divided into a weekly amount and the weekly amount will be counted as income for your Student Allowance.

linksRelated

Parent's income
Deprivation of income

How we can help

  • Starting study
  • In study
  • Returning to study
  • Finished studying

Online services

  • Eligibility test
  • MyStudyLink
  • Declare income

About

  • About StudyLink
  • About this site
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy, disclaimer and copyright

Contact us

  • How to contact us
  • Facebook
Go to Ministry of Social Development's website Go to New Zealand Government's website