does anyone know, if you are on one income, does that mean that you are definately entitle to family tax benefit part B, the whole thing confuses me.
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does anyone know, if you are on one income, does that mean that you are definately entitle to family tax benefit part B, the whole thing confuses me.
There is an income cut off for the baby bonus (the 3000/4000 payment).. but its like $120,000s of income. (just a random fact there for you, lol)
spot on shannon, found out today. part A is $44 fortnight per baby under 5 & part B is $117.00 fortnight for no income
thanks kirbay too
Kirbay, actually the maternity payment is not income tested. Everyone no matter how much they earn will recieve the $3000/$4000 payment and then if you stop work, or decrease your hours at work the gov will give you a baby bonus of about $500 at tax time for the child for the first five years, you can only claim for one though.
taken from the Family assistance website:
Note: It recognises the extra costs incurred at the time of a new birth or adoption of a baby and is not income tested.
My DH systematically earns between $110-$150K a year and we get it.
Ta Dee
You have to watch out though. You are entitled to part b if your income will be zero (or less than about $2000, but don't quote me on that) for the ENTIRE financial year. If you put down zero income, then go back to work halfway though the financial year, you could be overpaid.
It is reconciled at the end of the fin year, so nothing will happen until then.
I used to work at the FAO so if you need any further clarification on any of this, let me know. It is soo hard to get infomation you can understand.
I got one fortnight's worth of payments when I resigned from my work (including my holiday payout) for the 2005-2006 financial year. I estimated I received about $3,500 (before tax); and I get the full Part B amount per fortnight for Madeline.
Hey hey hey - keep an eye on the federal budget on tuesday - they say they're going to put the family tax payments up !!
does anyone know if the baby bonus $3,000 or $4,000?
From a govt website. HTH. You can find it by goolgeing maternity payment. Baby bonus was the name of the previous benefit of $500 per year for 5 years.:
How much Maternity Payment do I get?
Maternity Payment is indexed in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in March and September each year.
This payment rate is effective from 20 March 2006 and is only paid for babies born or adopted on or after 1 July 2004. Maternity Payment is paid as a non-taxable lump sum payment. Payment is made into a bank or credit union account and not through the tax system.
StatusLump Sum Payment AmountPer child$3166.00
- This payment is not subject to an income test.
- This payment is not subject to an assets test.
Note: For multiple births, maternity payment is paid for each child. For example, twins attract two payments of Maternity Payment ($6332).
As announced in the May 2004 Budget Maternity Payment will increase:
- from 1 July 2006 the Maternity Payment will be increased to $4000
- from 1 July 2008 the Maternity Payment will be increased to $5000.
OOOh... putting the payment up? I like the sound of that :-)
Yeh, that sounds right. That is the base rate for part A. don't forget only estimate zero if you are not going to earn an income for the entire next financial year (this includes income from shares or rental housing).
thanks for the cut and paste from the approp website Sammi-Jo. I will go and google "maternity payment" now.
Tulip DH earns around the amount of your DH & I work and have put my income at $10,000 even though its less & I get around $120 a fortnight. HTH!
What I heard this morning on TV was that it will benefit Mothers that dont return to work...by approx $40 per month (not sheep stations but still)
What i dont understand is why are they pushing for Mothers to return to work if the new system wont benefit them...?
I just make my payments to be paid out at end of financial year so I get a lump sum, the amount of times that I would work it out & it would total a certain amount & then at end of year I'd get a bill!? For us it's easier this way!!! I earn about $55k-$65k & Dh earns only about $40K... But as it depends on what Overtime he gets & my Bonuses throughout the year it can be difficult to estimate!!!
does anyone have an opinions on whether it is better to get the family assistance each fortnight OR once a year in a lump sum IF your family income is pretty fixed. I hear awful stories in the news about families having to make huge back payments cos the fortnightly amounts were worked out incorrectly and they were overpaid (even after declaring changes in income) - makes the whole thing sound like quite a minefield.
It IS a bloody minefield Gigi, not helped by not enough staff to have the time to explain everything to people.
If your income is pretty fixed, is should be fine to receive your payments fortnightly, most of us over estimate a little just in case, to cover any unexpected overtime etc. This way you can get your payments f/tly and there may be a little waiting for you at the end of the fin year once reconciliation has been done with the tax dept.
However you may have seen the different payment plans you can have. If you are unsure you can just receive either Part A through the year and part B at the end. Or Base rate part A, then collect the balance at the end of the fin year. You can have it both ways. Oops starting to get confusing - if you need further clarification let me know. I'm a FAO expert!
Also make sure they change it as you have asked!!!
Because when I had Indah I filled in the papers saying pay me f/nightly... But when I started back at work in Jan, I called & asked to do reconcilliation at end of financial year!! I have spoken to them 4 times since about this & it was FINALLY changed & I got a letter last Thursday!!!! Not only that my chilcare rebate is another whole kettle of fish...
They sent me a letter saying Indah wasnt immunised (she is & they have documents proving this from her 6 month immunisation) but last 2 refunds are on hold while THEY sort it out!!! It isnt alot of money, but why the hell should they have it, when I have given them everything & they say it is still pending!
If I get a bill from them I doubt they'll accept (Still pending) when I dont pay it for 12 wks!!! :throw_computer: :mad:
As DH is a High income earner we can afford to wait till the end of financial year to claim our FTB. We once upon a time were middle income earners and with the system being how it WAS we ended up with a nasty bill twice from them.
Last year they sent me a letter telling me that they had paid me a bit over $5500 FTB Part A (through the skin of our teeth) and therefore Part A supplement ($600/child - $2400) and Part B And B supplement. Over the moon it was great. A week later, I got a Bill from them!!! I opened it and started reading and was like WTF :eek: (:mad: This is why we wait till the end of the financial year and let them tell us how much we get) Yes! Apparently we had been overpaid. I panicked. We had of course already spent the money. I kept reading and held my breath and it stated that we had in fact been overpaid by $16, LOL:cryinglaugh: . And they were waivering this outstanding sum. Phew, So we infact owed nothing. lol.Thank Goodness.
I think the Govt. tries to encourage mothers to stay home. It's not a fortune but every bit helps.
Tracey,
Sometimes the doctor can be slow in notifying the immunisation register, that you have in fact had Indah immunised. This could be the only problem as they (c'link)can get the info merely by refreshing your record, or, overriding it once they have sighted the documents.
Then again, maybe the people you are dealing with only have surface knowledge of the computer system. This is such a huge problem. Staff are just not trained enough, or the stupid gov't decide to reduce costs by cutting staff and offering redundancies THEN realising that they have just lost all the staff with any decent system knowledge. they try to remedy this by then taking on more staff and not giving them full training.
e.g I worked in FAO, had excellent training (before the cuts), was an expert in shared care, all FTB and CCB, and vast knowledge of the required legislation. When I returned from mat leave they put me in the Newstart (dole) section. WTF??? I had no idea what I was doing half the time and no training. Meanwhile the FAO section was struggling with stuff that would take me 15 mins.
I really enjoyed working there at the start, I could take the time to explain things to people properly, I had a ball sorting out the reconciliation and giving people money they didn't realise they were entitled to. But that was then.....
Rant over
From reading what Tulip and Christy have said... I suspect that we may be getting underpaid?
My DP earns between 50 and 55k, and I earn nothing.
My DP has an investment property (still paying the mortgage) from which he collects rent, however we pay rent in our house here, and our rent here is about $50/w more expensive than what we get back from the investment property.
And my Centrelink payment is $160/fortnight...
Do any of the experts here know if this sounds about right or not?
Does anyone know if Mark`s name goes onto some Dairy Farmer`s Shares and onto the property if this will effect our family assistance?
Up till now his parents names where on everything now since FIL has passed away MIL wants Mark`s names on a few things but we`re worried that it`s going to effect our payments, he earns under $30,000 and this will not change, actually he earns less then that as the farm hasn`t been able to afford to pay him since December but anyway does anyone know if by putting his name on the shares and property will it effect our payments?
at belly belly, i think we are so lucky to have members like Lula2 and Shannon and whoever else i've forgotten, on hand, who are willing to give insiders info on this "minefield".
It is so frustrating to hear your story Lulu2, people like you who SHOULD be behind the counter (if that was your desire, and you had good childcare, flexible hours - all the other things working parents need), cos you understand it and view it as a public service, - all the reduncancies of experienced staff, stinks of mismangement of human resources to moi. (And govt wanting to pay younger people instead cos they're cheaper).
I think the Family Assistance stuff is partly there so the unemployment figures are made to look artificially better than they really are. The window dressing put on it is that the lovely leaders are looking out for families. I think they have self interest at heart, cos more people looking for paid work leads to higher unemployment figures. (I realise not all mums fit in this category, but i am talking about the women who either do or have to get paid work.)
I read a quote in the media yesterday that income earners under $40,000 will no longer pay tax. I don't believe this for a minute, but it would be nice to find out the REAL thing. (We come into that bracket and it made me laugh). I think they were confusing the thing about the capping for either Family Asssistance A or B being raised from $33,000 to $40,000.
Sorry, having a cynical morning here. Steps off soapbox.
Yep Ambah: we actually decided to sell our investment property and put the money in shares. What was happening was despite the fact that I wasn't working at all any losses resulting from the investment property were listed as "income" by CentreLink. They don't seem to care if you stash your money in shares though. Has made life soooo much simpler for us anyhow.
Deejoy - my best advice to you is to walk into any Centrelink office, or phone the call centre and request an appointment with a FISO - (Financial Information Services Officer) - they're job is to explain how different investments will effect your centrelink payments
Thanks Lulu, I actually have a friend whom works there & she has spoken to someone at the branch we had our child care receipts too & they have sorted it out & I will get my refund next week...
I cancel our payments as I get bonuses during the year, I also get a pay increase every Feb & DH does overtime sporadically. But I always asy we earn a minimum of $10,000 more than we are at the time, because i never know what my payrise will be or what my bonuses will be.... Last year I got a nice lump sum.. this year due to them not cancelling it I will only get a little bit, but better than paying anything!!!!
Hi everyone,
I was just wondering if anyone knows if a HECS debt affects Family payments? DP finished Uni June last year and earns approx $40K atm.. i think part of his income goes to paying that off but when i start recieving benefits will part of my benefits be going to his HECs also? Or will our incomes be combined as a total to the government and maybe will he get less in the bank as the more he earns the more he is taxed? :confused:
Oh good.. thanks Shannon :)
FTB is not an income, it is a tax break.
The FISO has excellent advice, especially if you have shares and stuff, or have a farm. Therefore the gov't will probably sack all the FISO's.....
Can someone tell me cos Im confused as have now heard conflicting information. When we are doing our Income Estimates for the financial year do we include the money from FTB as income? Or as I am a SAHM do I just put in my DH income and mine as $0?
Ta
Jo
Not sure if this has been asked.. but my babys due in September. Prior to leaving work between July and August i will earn approx $8000 before tax inc holiday payout. Will that $8000 make my FTB payments less during the 06-07 financial year, than it will say the 07-08 if i dont go back to work or earn any other income? :confused:
FTB is not earnings.
If you are sure you will not earn any money (even from shares etc), put your income as zero Jo.
Whatever you do Kell, do put in the income regardless of how it will affect your ftb payments. The tax dept cross checks and you will get stuck with a debt. You will get more FTB part B when your income is lowered.
FTB part B goes on the estimate of the lower income earner. If you are single you don't have to worry about it at all, you get both.
SO - yes your FTB part B will be slightly higher if your income is zero, on 07/08 rather than $8000 or so, but you must be sure you won't have an income for the entire year.
You can only incur debt if you choose to get ftb fortnightly.
Keep the questions coming - I have a direct line to c'link if the ?? get really hairy.