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Work and income | Te Hiranga Tangata

Training Incentive Allowance

If you need help with fees and other study costs for a course you're doing, you may be able to get a Training Incentive Allowance (TIA).

What you can use TIA for

The Training Incentive Allowance (TIA) can help pay for things that will help you study, like:

  • tuition fees
  • books
  • childcare
  • equipment
  • transport, and
  • any additional caring costs you have while studying.

The TIA is available for courses at levels 1-7 on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.

TIA vs Fees Free in your final year of study

If you're starting study for the first time, you may be able to get a Fees Free payment after you complete your qualification.

You will still need to pay your fees when you enrol. If you meet the eligibility requirements for Fees Free, you can apply after you complete your qualification. You will then get your final year's study fees paid to you – up to $12,000.

  • If you use TIA to help pay your study fees in your final year of study, you can't get Fees Free as well.
  • If you pay your fees another way (without TIA), you may be able to get Fees Free. Then you can use TIA to cover other costs during your final year, such as childcare or transport.
  • If your final year was across more than 1 calendar year, you may be able to get Fees Free for any calendar years you did not use TIA for study fees.

Before you make any decisions, visit Inland Revenue's website to see if you meet the eligibility requirements for Fees Free:

Fees Free (Inland Revenue)external

Note

Fees Free is ending on 31 December 2026. Students who complete their study in 2026 can still apply within 1 year of completion, up to 31 December 2027.

Embedded video:
Open transcript

[Music]

The TIA helps me so I don't actually have to save more to pay for day care and pay for stationery. It's all done for me so I don't have to worry about it.

I'm the first person in my family to do tertiary study and that makes me feel a lot better about myself.

The TIA allows me to study and get the job I want, get my qualifications.

'Cause i'm getting all my levels to so I can get a decent job so she is not like disappointed or embarrassed by me.

If I didn't have the money I would probably still be sitting at home doing nothing.

[Music]

Who can get it

To qualify for the TIA, you must be getting one of these payments:

  • Sole Parent Support
  • Supported Living Payment - caring for a person
  • Supported Living Payment - health condition, injury, or disability
  • Young Parent Payment (sole parents only)
  • Emergency Benefit or Emergency Maintenance Allowance (sole parents only)
  • Jobseeker Support (sole parents only) if you can meet your work obligations while studying

You also need to be enrolled in a recognised course of study. This is one that's funded by the Tertiary Education Commission or the Ministry of Education. You can check this information with your training provider.

The study you're doing also needs to:

  • increase your skills for employment 
  • be 12 weeks or more, and
  • be at levels 1 to 7 on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework.

How much you can get

For each week of study, you can get $143.08, up to a maximum of $5,723.20 in a 52-week period.

How it's paid

You can choose to be paid TIA as either:

  • a weekly amount (for on-going costs like transport, childcare or Wi-Fi)
  • an upfront one-off payment (for costs like course fees, stationery or a laptop), or
  • a combination of both.

If you choose to get weekly payments, you'll get them with your benefit payment the week after your study begins.

Upfront payments are made to retailers, education providers, or StudyLink – so you may need to get quotes.

Example 1

Anna is studying towards a Certificate in Business Administration, which is a 38 week free course (no fees).

Anna can get a maximum of $143.08 a week for 38 weeks, which is $5,437.04 total. 

She chooses to use:

  • $1,500 to buy a laptop
  • $289 to buy a desk
  • $149 to buy learning software.

This is a total of $1,938. After paying for these one-off costs, Anna still has $3,499.04 remaining of her TIA.

Her course is taught partly online, so Anna uses $17.50 a week to pay for her internet costs ($665 over 38 weeks). Anna also has an informal childcare arrangement with her neighbour which she pays $60 a week for ($2,280 over 38 weeks). Anna chooses to use TIA to cover both of these costs. So that's an extra $2,945 she uses from her TIA.

Anna’s remaining entitlement to TIA for the year is $554.04. She can access this for other study-related costs which come up while she’s studying. 

Example 2

Matt is studying an Introduction to Mechanical Engineering, which is a 25-week course.

Matt can get a maximum of $143.08 for 25 weeks, which is $3,577 total.

He chooses to use:

  • $500 to pay for textbooks
  • $1,500 to cover some of his fees.

This is a total of $2,000. After paying for these one-off costs, Matt still has $1,577 remaining of his TIA.

Matt spends $85 a week to travel to his course ($2,125 over 25 weeks). He chooses to use the remainder of his entitlement to partially cover his travel costs by getting $63.08 a week for travel costs. Matt has no further entitlement to TIA until next year.

Matt also has a disability and needs specialist software to complete his exams. He has no further entitlement to TIA.

How to apply
Note

You need to apply for TIA every year or if you are starting a new course of study. 

Step 1 - Complete application form

You need to complete a Training Incentive Allowance application form. You must give this to us within 28 days of your study starting.

Your training provider also needs to fill out pages 5 and 6 of the application form. 

Training Incentive Allowance application [PDF 2 MB]

Step 2 - Gather documents you'll need to provide

You'll need to gather proof of any costs you want covered under TIA.

This can be things like:

  • receipts
  • quotes, or
  • a letter from the provider.

If the costs are listed on a provider's website, you don't need to provide proof of them. We can check on the website and confirm these costs at your appointment. 

Step 3 - Attend an appointment

Call us on 0800 559 009 and we’ll book an appointment for you to come in and see us. You'll need to bring your application form and documents with you to the appointment. 

We'll discuss your application with you and check that your study will help you to get into work. 

Once we've processed your application, we'll send you a letter to let you know the outcome.

We may share some of your personal information

If you use TIA for course fees, we'll share some of your personal information with the Tertiary Education Commission. They'll share the same information with Inland Revenue.

This is because these agencies are in charge of a fund called Fees Free.

We'll share your:

  • full name
  • date of birth
  • National Student Number, and
  • IRD number.

This means these agencies can make sure Fees Free goes to people who are eligible to get it. Keep in mind – if you're covering your course fees with TIA in your final year, you won't be able to get Fees Free.

Your information will be safely handled and won't be kept longer than it's needed.

Refunding money to us

Providers will need to refund the fees to us straight away if:

  • we've paid your fees, and
  • you're leaving within your place of vocational education/university/school refund period.

How providers can refund fees

Providers can do this by direct credit with the following details:

Account name: Work and Income Debt Management

Account number: 03-0049-0006243-25

Reference: Add the letter C and client’s 9-digit client number (without spaces or dashes) i.e. C123456789

Code: TIA

Particulars: Client surname and initial

Please then email Crown_Revenue@msd.govt.nz to confirm a refund has been paid and include details of:

  • the amount
  • client surname and initial
  • client's 9-digit MSD client number
  • what the refund is for i.e. TIA or refund of course fees.

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