Means tested Baby Bonus

Hi,

Just trying to seek clarification on the new Baby Bonus/Maternity Payment arrangement. * Please note that I am not asking because this payment is the only reason for wanting a baby - I am not even planning a baby right now - I'm just seeking clarification about something I'm confused about after a conversation with a friend today*

Ok, so I notice on the Centrelink website, it says that you are entitled to this payment if your combined income in the 6 months after the birth of the baby is $75,000 or less. So, does that mean if DH earnt $100K before tax per annum (for the sake of an easily dividable round number), he would earn $50K in the 6 months post baby (splitting pay in two) and if I earnt $42K per year but was on maternity leave and brought home about $6000 during that 6 months (bringing our combined income to $56K in that 6 month period)... we would be entitled to the baby bonus?

And, is it a case of if you earn less than the prescribed amount that you get the full amount of the baby bonus or is it graded like other Centrelink entitlments?


TIA

MG

That seems about right MG! Wait for Briggsy's Girl to come online - she'll know for sure :)

I think you might be right! :clap: I had read it initially as anyone earning over $75k was not eligible. I have copied this from the website;

From 1 January 2009, a Baby Bonus income test will be introduced.

The income test will only apply to customers claiming for a child born or entering care from 1 January 2009.

The Baby Bonus income test is based on your family income in the six months following the birth of your child, or the date the child entered your care.

Families with an adjusted taxable income over the Baby Bonus income limit for the six months following the birth will not be eligible for payment. You will have 52 weeks from the birth of your baby to claim Baby Bonus and provide an income estimate. If your income is initially too high and then your circumstances change, you can tell us within 52 weeks of your assessment and your payment can be reassessed.

As at 1 January 2009, the income limit for the six months following the birth of the child is $75,000.

it's an all or nothing situation - so if your estimate for the first six months is under 75k combined (as your example is) you'd get it at the approx $385 a fortnight for 13 fortnights. if it's over that amount, you don't get it.

if your partner is in seasonal work and has high estimated earnings for the year, but in the six months following birth he will still come in under that limit, you will get the payment

i'm not sure exactly how they are working out the cut off for people in seasonal work, but hope to find out - will email the girls tomorrow if i remember. i'm still not back at work (anyone want to take the ms from me and let me get back to work???)

Makes sense to me. In that first six months, $75000 is your limit. If yours is $56000, you qualify.

Thanks girls - glad to hear I got it right - shall report back to friend who I was debating with ;)

BG - I wonder if it is something like the FTB where you can claim at tax time for those who don't have "set" incomes such as shift workers?

Thanks Girls

MG

i honestly don't know MG - you do have up to a year to claim, so i'm guessing they'd look at it in arrears and see if you did go over in that six months post birth - i just haven't been at work to know for sure

also, can you apply to have it in one lump sum? I thought i read you ciould but now i dunno...
like if it was being used as a deposit on a lger family car kwim? Big ticket items for bub etc?

No, it's only available as a series of payments now. Actually a bit of a relief that Samuel arrived early... not that we've put in the forms to claim it yet!

BW

FJ - there are extreme circumstances in which you can apply to have it paid in a lump sum, but most requests will be denied. buying baby "essentials" such as a cot etc will be denied in almost every instance because you've had a whole pregnancy to organise this... perhaps for an extremely premmie baby that has had to be flown from the country to the city and parents have had extreme expense as a result, it would be taken into consideration, but those cases will be few and far between...

oh ok, so bigger car woukd be denied also...
See I thought the whole point of the money was to buy baby /bigger family needs Items KWIM..

Is it now a "maternity leave " payment

it is now another "social security" payment for families on "lower" incomes.

i honestly don't know if a larger car would be deemed a neccessity worthy of having the baby bonus paid in a lump sum as it is something that could be planned for. it's one of those things i really don't know sorry hun...

it isn't a maternity leave payment - the maternity leave reform suggestions are still going through submissions and things - they won't go through for quite a while i don't think

all so confusing, why wouldnt they have just left it the way it is. why do they have to confuse us and put most of us out who wanna put it towards things.

good ole centrelink lol

someone told me yesterday that your assets and profits come into the threshold too? is this correct? she was saying that they are going to sell their house in that 6 months and the profits from that would be added to theier 'income' which would set them as more than the 75 000.?

No. I didn't think assets came in to it at all.

Effectively you have to earn over $150,000.00 per annum to not get the payment. This is what I thought.

assets don't

sale of a house in which they have capital gains and pay capital gains tax WILL contribute to it. that's with thanks to the tax department

BM - it's nothing to do with c'link - they just administer what the government of the day say they have to. the baby bonus was being abused by a portion of the community - it was widely known as the plasma bonus. KRudd has done what, IMO, should have been done in the first place. initially the maternity payment/baby bonus was there to increase population growth (one for her, one for him, one for the country) but population growth stabilised and the payment was no longer intended for that purpose - it was then changed by the Labour government to reflect financial assistance for lower income families to try and help in keeping mothers at home for those crucial first six months. a lump sum payment doesn't do that. it doesn't supplement any part of a wage. it gives the person money they can spend in a lump sum - but what do you really NEED for baby at that point - unless you've not taken the months before birth (and let's be realistic, almost everyone knows they are pg for 6 months before a term birth) to prepare? the payment can take up to a month to administer once paperwork is in, and you have months to submit it - so it's not going to help you with immediate needs when baby arrives anyway!

yes, for some people, the lump sum seems more beneficial - who doesn't want to have $5k go into the bank - but the reality of it is that, even though the name has not yet changed, the baby "bonus" is no longer a BONUS - it's a form of income support for eligible families. i have no issue cutting the payment to higher income families (i DO have an issue with having a hard cut off point though - it should be a sliding scale). i have no issue with it being paid fortnightly (for some, that fortnightly payment for those six weeks will be enough to supplement mortgage or rent - MUCH more important than a large payment to buy STUFF)

not everyone is going to agree - this is MY opinion only. well, maybe not just mine - it obviously has been studied by governement advisors who believe it will be more beneficial to the majority of lower income families to do what it is meant to do - to help them survive financially after the birth of a baby

how would this work...
The woman has the main income but will obv not be earning for the 6 months - may mat leave will cover about 20K say...
The DH earns about 100K - so 50K for the 6 months...
so inthe 6 months the income would be 70K... but the womanthen goes back to work when the baby is 7 months and earns much above for the remainder of the yr. would this couple get the money (not really low income family but i guess the incomes arent split the 'traditional' way)

I work for Centrelink in a communication role and part of my job is to provide info to the community about the payments and services we deliver, including changes to things like Baby Bonus.

The general principle you've followed is basically correct - that is, dividing your family's annual income in half is a pretty good way of working out if you are likely to be eligible or not. If you're on half-pay while on Maternity Leave or are only be paid for part of the six months, make sure your estimate is based on that. Also, don't forget to include things like share dividends if you've got them. Briggsy's Girl was right re the sliding scale for payment of the Bonus - if your income isn't $75,000 or below, you're not entitled.

Since the beginning of the year, the Baby Bonus is now being paid in 13 fortnightly instalments, rather than as a lump sum. Legislation no longer allows Centrelink to pay the bonus as a lump sum. If your baby was born before 1 January 2009, you'll still get it as a lump sum though.

The profits from the sale of a house may be taken into account but there are special rules for how this works.

If you're in this situation or think your income is close to $75,000, we're telling people to ring Centrelink on 13 6150 and we can make sure people are able to provide a fairly accurate estimate, as well as to discuss their options such as lodging once the income is known.

PAP - That's how I understand it to work, it's the income in the immediate 6 months from bubs being born so that family would get it. I don't know how they can manage that though as it isn't reflected in tax returns or anything. Sounds like it is going to cost a lot more to administer than it did before and there aren't that many families that are going to miss out so overall it will cost the government more.

So if it is being paid in fortnightly installments and you are eligible for the full amount, what do you get per fortnight?

The fortnightly amount will be $384.60 and the last payment will be slightly more so that it works out to be $5,000.

I have a question:

This maternity payment is fortnightly now. So once the baby is born can you claim Parenting Payment and FTB? Or just maternity payment?

I can't see why you would lose FTB B echidna. Having it paid as a lump sum hasn't affected it in the past.

baby bonus has no impact on eligibility for other payments - it's not taxable, isn't an "income" as such - if you qualify for the other payments on their merits, you qualify - no impact from baby bonus

Hello there.

I have a related question you ladies might be able to help me with. Under "normal" circumstances DH and I earn just above the $150k limit but I am the primary bread winner by about 30%. Luckily, the company I work for will give me 12 weeks fully paid maternity leave to be taken in lump sum when I go on leave (before baby is born) So technically for the next six months or so we will be "earning" less than the $75k. Does my maternity payment from the company make me ineligible for the baby bonus?

I wish I could say we didn't need it but after IVF costs, anticipated birth costs and our giant mortgage I have to say we could really do with it. As it is, I will only be able to take off the three paid months that work pays for then baby will have to go to full time care. I know there are many in a much worse position than us and we put ourselves in this situation but just want to know if we are eligible if worse came to worse...

Thanks in advance for any info! I have searched the web and found nothing on the BB as it relates to paid maternity leave.

Lilyx

lily - i'm guessing if it's paid to you in the time after baby is born (or is to ccover that time frame) it will come into your income - that doesn't mean you'll go over - you'll just have to work out half of hubby's income for the year, and 12 weeks of yours - that is what you'd get in that time frame.... so if it's under 75k... i don't know that i can tell you exactly how it works though as i haven't been to work

i would suggest calling FAO 136150 and they'll give you specific advice

HTH

BG

Thanks Raven and Briggsy's Girl. I'm glad that the other payments aren't effected.

Ok, the maternity payment doesn't interfer with Family Tax Benefits... but what about the other way? Or did I already ask that? Haha :doh:

When they say income, is it simply the amount you earn, any fringe tax benefits, shares, dividends etc? Essentially any income that would be included in a tax assessment? And does that mean it is the amount you earn before or after tax?

Sorry, I know I'm asking nitty questions but it is just so bloomin' confusing!

I can't remember who asked about whether their maternity leave payments would count in the assessment - but yeah, they would. But ONLY the amount of money you're paid during the 6 months immediately following the birth of the baby.

Thanks BG for helping out here. I know you've been off work - you're a star for helping us work through this. What on earth are we going to do when YOU go on maternity leave?!?!?!?

MG

the only stuff that doesn't really count is ftb payments/carer ALLOWANCE

the break down is essentially
taxable income (including mat leave payments, payment from employment, share dividends, capital gains - all that stuff)
fringe benefits
net rental property loss (this is deducted from taxable income so that you don't pay tax, but has to be addd again to your overall income otherwise you're effectively getting it taken away twice)
non taxable pensions/benefits (so any tax free payments you get)
foreign income (income earned from overseas and taxed overseas)
tax free foreign income (this includes money earned by armed forces personel serving o/s but paid from within Australia if they are out of the country for less than a certain period of time)
deductible child maintenance (if you pay maintenance/cchild support for a child not living with you etc, the amount paid is deducted from your taxable income)

i think they're the ones that are on there

HTH's

BG

Ahhhh, what about payment for Army Reserves which is TAX FREE?

ummmmmmmmmmm, i don't believe it ccounts, but i honestly don't know off the top of my head - there are some interesting loopholes and rules applying to defence force and i don't have the info at hand (and haven't looked at it in literally MONTHS! lol)

Thanks BG! Sorry to be annoying - you're amazing to remember so much!