Alan Lyall has been affected by changes to the way child support is calculated by the IRD, leaving him just $47 a week.

Nationwide child support changes have left a South Taranaki father struggling to feed the child still in his care.

Hawera's Alan Lyall is one of many parents who have been affected by changes to the way child support is calculated by the IRD. The changes, said to be the biggest in 20 years, came into effect on April 1.

The problem for Lyall is not the fact he has to pay child support but how much he has been told to hand over. Lyall cares full time for his daughter, who is 16, while his other child - a 12-year-old - lives with his former partner.

After being made redundant in January, Lyall is currently on a job seeker benefit and receives about $417 a week. Out of this total, he paid $200 in rent, $60 towards a car re-payment and he saved $30 a week for power. Once the $80 child support payment leaves his account, he said he would only have about $47 to live on for the rest of the week.

"I can't feed two people on that," he said.

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Lyall said he had received about three letters in as many weeks about his obligations with the last stating he was expected to start paying $80 every Thursday, a regime that started last week.

Lyall said this was unfair as the assessment had been based on what he was earning last year, rather than on his current circumstances.

He said while he had made regular child support payments in the past, of amounts varying between $30-$60 a week, the sharp spike he was now responsible to provide was a real worry.

"I don't know how the hell we are going to survive," he said.

In the meantime, Lyall said he had no other option but to stay at home to save money and petrol until he finds out if there will be any reprieve.

The 61-year-old said he had sent a form to IRD about his situation two weeks ago but had yet to hear back. A review process is also available for people like Lyall who disagree with decisions made by the tax department and is carried out by an independent officer.

Lyall said he had no family support to call on and had considered the option of selling off some of his personal possessions, including a dining table and chairs, at a garage sale to help make ends meet.

An IRD spokeswoman said the department would not comment on the status of individual cases citing privacy issues.

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