Estimating Income???

I just got my letter in the mail saying I need to update my income estimate for 2009/2010 financial year, and Im a little confused....

So my son was born end March and we have been receiving the baby bonus and base rate of FTB part A. Im on paid leave at the moment but only for about 9 more weeks. Then I have about 9 months maternity leave unpaid. So when I filled out the forms in March I included an estimate for 2009/2010.....but in the new letter they increased the amount. So now Im trying to work out what to do! Im so confused....I blame baby brain lol.......so this is best I can figure I should do:

For my wage, work out how many weeks pay I will get in July.....but then what about from March - June 2010. I dont know where I will be or what I will be doing then!! I legally have a job to go back to, but Im not sure if thats what I will do....so should I put my "normal" wage from my old job for March - June 2010 just incase??

For DH's wage, I was hoping to get his group certificate for this year before I had to commit to any with the gov for next year....but if I just work out 52 weeks of his current wage, and throw in afew extra for bonus/overtime???

So if I do that, and hubby does get a bonus or two, or if I go back to work earlier, do I just ring them or do something online each time.....or am I committed to the estimate I give now???

I just dont understand if the payments I receive are based on week to week or a yearly average?? I guess what I mean is if I put only a couple of weeks wage for me, then do a couple of months work....if I update centrelink every week will I avoid a debt at tax time??

Thanks heaps to anyone who read this far lol...sorry if that makes no sense what so ever....I just worry about doing the wrong thing and getting in trouble with the Gov lol

for your income - the system will automatically say "your income estimate is lower this year to last year, please review and make sure you've gotten it right" - basically the system assumes everyone has an increase of about 5% per year, and if your new estimate doesn't match that kinda thing, it sends you a letter asking you to make sure it's right. all you have to include is a note saying "unpaid mat leave" or something so that the person processing it can force it through kwim?

with your hubby, estimate his income (taxable) plus extra for bonuses PLUS add about 5% - the bureau of statistics have come out with this number so it's best to keep it in mind


IF you're going to return to work during the financial year, this is my suggestion so that you get the most FTBB that you're entitled to

firstly, esimate your nine weeks of income (mat leave) as YOUR income
secondly, work out what you will get when you go back to work
now estimate your partners income as above

when you tell them your income estimate - estimate YOUR income as just the paid mat leave - this will give you your maximum ftbb entitlement
add your "return to work" income to your partners income (so that your TOTAL income between you includes that income but it doesn't impact your ftbb)

when you return to work, ring up and advise you're going back, reduce DH's income by the amount you included for you (this stops you being overpaid ftba) and add that income to your income. make sure they put in the ftbb quarantine details. essentially the quarantine allows you to have your income from when you return to work to ONLY impact you when you return to work (ftbb wise) rather than over the whole year

they will need to confirm details of when you started mat leave, what amount you got etc with your employer so you'll need to provide those details befoer you go back to work

hope that makes sense!

Ah ok so FTB part B is just going off my earning right?? That helps heaps to combine it to DH wage....the whole reason I dont know if Im going back to work is I wanted to try living without my wage first, so that would give me a better idea of how we will be placed financially :) And so if I dont go back to work, then DH's income would be over estimated and it would be just be worked out in next years tax right?? Will centrelink automatically get our tax amounts from the ATO, or do I have to notify them after we do our tax return??

Sorry to have a thousand and one questions that you are probably sick of answering, I just couldnt get my head around it all properly!! If I need to notify them of changes can I do it online, or am I better to call each time??

Thank you heaps for your help :)

yup - tax returns go through automatically (and you'll get another Please Review your Estimate letter at that point too)

and yeah, if you put your income on DH's (for the return to work bit) you'll get a top up at tax time 2010 if you don't have those earnings...

Thank you sooooo much :) that all makes heaps more sense to me now :) I always find forms and financial stuff a little daunting!!

most people do hun - unless you work with it every day it gets overwhelming (hence my attempts to simplify it where i can!)

Well I must say you did a fabulous job simplifying it for me.....and I have printed off your response for DH too.....whenever I try to get him to help me with the forms he gets convinced the centrelink mafia will hunt me down if Im out by a few cents lol :)