For those that claim child tax benefits at end of year...

[amberj]

Thanks. I know I'm being silly! I just dread trying to chase it up at the end of the year if I need to! But they should get it all right!

[Liz]

I thought child care stuff you have to let centrelink know in advance that you will be claiming it from a certain date.. coz they won't back date it? And then they automatically pay you quarterly? That's what I was told when I rang when DS started at his first preschool.

And yep - I'm expecting my $2k for the kids (K Rudd's december payment) when we do our tax for this year.

ETA: just looked at the familyassist site... and yep you can claim child care tax rebate annually... geez... I always get told a different thing on the phone. All they told me was I had to give a date he was starting and it couldn't be earlier than the day I was applying for it coz it can't be backdated.. and told we'd be quarterly.. never told it could be annual?? pfft.

[briggsy's girl]

I thought child care stuff you have to let centrelink know in advance that you will be claiming it from a certain date.. coz they won't back date it? And then they automatically pay you quarterly? That's what I was told when I rang when DS started at his first preschool.

All they told me was I had to give a date he was starting and it couldn't be earlier than the day I was applying for it coz it can't be backdated.. and told we'd be quarterly.. never told it could be annual?? pfft.

child care benefit will always be paid for all the time you attend - what won't happen if you notify after starting, is that centrelink will not pay more than 4 weeks in arrears to the child care centre - so if you start child care jan 1 but don't notify til april 1, you won't get back paid until tax time as there is no provision to back pay that amount of time to the child care centre. you pay full fees, and just start getting reduced fees from April 1. in these circs, your tax rebate would also only apply from the date you notified so as to ensure you don't get overpaid.

if however you start on Jan 1 and notify by Jan 28, the provisions are there to back pay to the child care centre the full four weeks

you are definitely able to claim anything at tax time - this is mostly of benefit for those who, like Amber, aren't sure of their income as they have variable incomes.


there are no penalties for claiming at the end of the financial year - you just have to wait until you've both done your taxes. you need to do that within 24 months or you forfeit all entitlements you haven't already claimed. you will need to fill in two forms for c'link - one with the lump sum claim for ftb, one with the lump sum claim for child care - these two forms will apply for all of your entitlements