Child Care Benefit/Child Care Rebate Info
There are a few payments you may be eligible for when it comes to child care, but often simply getting a place in a child care centre is the hardest thing.
My Child Website
You can use this website to locate child care places in your area – and you can limit it to places that have available spaces for a child the right age etc
It also has information about child related services – activities, early childhood services etc. It’s a little-known resource that may come in handy for you
Child Care Benefit (CCB)
There are two types of Child Care that may attract assistance from the government – Registered and Approved. Each type has it’s own eligibility criteria, payment levels, and processes to claim the payments.
Child Care Benefit
Registered Child Care
:
Registered child care is care provided by grandparents, relatives, friends, or nannies who are registered as carers with the Australian Government Department of Human Services. In some cases, it can also include care provided by individuals in private schools, kindergartens and outside-school-hours services. Carers or teachers in these services must be registered with the department. You can only claim Child Care Benefit for registered care if you are looking for work, working, training, or studying at some time during the week in which you use child care or have an exemption from that requirement.
Claims can be lodged up to 12 months after care has been used – due to the small amount of money payable per hour, most people lodge their claim and receipts annually or every 6 months to make it worth lodging the claim.
Approved Child Care
Approved child care benefit is an income and activity tested entitlement, and is far more common than registered care.
:
Approved child care, for the purpose of Child Care Benefit, is care by a child-care service provider approved by the Australian Government to accept Child Care Benefit on your behalf. This means that you pay less money out of your own pocket. Approved child care (for Child Care Benefit) can include outside-school-hours care, family day care, vacation care, long day care, in-home care, and some occasional-care services.
Approved care attracts the “child care percentage” as well as child care rebate.
:
Your circumstances will affect the number of child-care hours for which you can receive Child Care Benefit.
If you use approved child care, you can claim Child Care Benefit of:
• up to 24 hours per child per week, available to all eligible families; or
• up to 50 hours per child per week, available to grandparents with primary care of a grandchild (in child care) and to parents who are both working or looking for work, training, or studying for at least 15 hours per week, or 30 hours per fortnight, or have an exemption from that requirement.
CCB percentage is based on family income, and is a percentage of the basic rate of payment per hour NOT a percentage of your whole hourly fee.
The process to apply for CCB for approved care is dependent on your current circumstances. If you are claiming FTB for your children, you can apply over the telephone. If not, you will need to apply online or fill out forms. When you start child care, the child care centre will need your reference number (CRN) as well as the CRN for each child going in to care. This is how they link your file to FAO and provide usage information back to FAO
Child Care Rebate (CCR)
Child care rebate
:
Child Care Rebate covers 50 per cent of your out-of-pocket expenses for approved child care, up to a maximum amount per child per year. You do not need to claim Child Care Rebate. You will automatically be assessed for Child Care Rebate when you lodge a claim for Child Care Benefit for approved child care.
CCR is always paid AFTER it is used, so if you are looking at your first bill, it will not attract CCR. CCR always appears on the bill after the care has been used. It is currently capped at $7500 per child per year
Generally, looking at your bill for a week would show CCB for the current week and CCR for the previous week
As an example
Total fees (01.01.13-07.01.13)
Less CCB (01.01.13-07.01.13)
Less CCR (25.12.12-31.12.12)
= Bill amount
CCR can be paid in several ways. From 1 July, 2012, annual payment option is being removed, so the options are limited to Direct to Service, Direct to Customer or Quarterly
CCR Payment Methods
Direct to Service – CCR entitlement is paid direct to the child care provider to reduce the bill for the customer. Up to 85% of your CCR is paid direct to the childcare, the remaining 15% of your CCR entitlement is held until tax time/reconciliation
Direct to Customer – CCR entitlement is calculated and paid direct to the customers bank account. Customer pays the child care provider for their fees (less CCB) and CCR is paid to the customer after the child care report usage to FAO. Up to 85% of your CCR is paid direct to the customer, the remaining 7.5% of your CCR entitlement is held until tax time/reconciliation
Quarterly – Customer pays child care bill in it’s entirety after CCB has been applied. CCR is held and paid in quarterly instalments for the first three quarters of the year (full 50% paid in October, January and April) – the final quarter is held until tax time/reconciliation
CCB and CCR – the calculations
I’m going to do some really simplified calculations in the following posts so that it makes as much sense as possible. I’m going to use round numbers (which rarely happens with payments!) so that it is as clear as possible without confusing details. I will do a couple of scenarios so that different CCR payment types are used. Any reference to amounts held until tax time/reconciliation will be explained in a thread about Reconciliation rather than confusing this explanation as it all comes in together at Reconciliation
Child Care Benefit/Child Care Rebate Info
Just wondering if ccr is means tested??
