New rules around child support have been postponed for a year because Inland Revenue says they’re complicated and can’t be implemented on the date set by Parliament.

The legislation was passed in April with an implementation date of April 1 next year.

Revenue Minister Todd McClay says IRD couldn’t give him an assurance it could implement the changes “to the high standard the Government expects” and he’s put them off until April 1, 2015.

“I’m not willing to implement these changes until I am assured that they can be made smoothly and that parents will not be adversely affected,” he said today.

Former revenue minister Peter Dunne brought the legislation to Parliament, saying it was the first major child support reform in 20 years.

It set up a new way to calculate how much money an absent parent should pay for child support, giving greater recognition to shared parenting.

It also changed the way IRD administered the scheme.

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