A Green Party bill to extend in-work tax credits to beneficiaries is being described as "just plain wacky".
MP Catherine Delahunty's bill has been drawn from the members ballot and will be debated in parliament.
It replaces Working for Families with a universal tax credit based on income.
Ms Delahunty says Working for Families, which pays tax credits to working families, isn't reaching the most vulnerable people because it excludes beneficiaries.
"One quarter of New Zealand children grow up in poverty and three out of five of them are in beneficiary households," she said.
But ACT leader John Banks says the purpose of Working for Families is to ensure that people who are in paid work are better off as a result.
"The Green's bill would remove the requirement to actually `be in work' to receive the tax credit," he said.
"This makes no economic sense - it punishes those who work by making them pay more to fund those who don't and it erodes the incentive for those on a benefit to move off welfare and into work.
"It's just plain wacky."
NZN
