CCR - how does it work now that they will pay directly to the centre????

[Miss E]

I'm just wondering how the CCR rebate will work now that we've elected to have it paid directly to our CC every fortnight?

I did it months ago when we first got the letter from Family Assistance. So far I've received two accounts from CC, so have basically been charged for all of July. But, these do not take into account the CCR.

I know that we need to submit our tax returns to be reimbursed for the last quarter (april through june 2011). Now I am wondering if Family Assistance won't start making payments direct to CC until we have done our tax returns?

BG or anyone else? It would be great if you could help me nut this out. CC isn't too sure how it is meant to work and I can't find any info on the Family Assistance website.

TIA

[Purple Penguin]

Subbing because I am interested to know about this too, first I heard about it was DH telling me the other day.

[Traveller]

I'm interested too. I thought the last payment that I paid to childcare would include the CCR but it seemed awfully high. I haven't been to the centre to check my statement though so I thought I was just getting confused.

[Miss E]

Ok, I just got this reply from our CC

There has been a delay on DEEWR’s end which means that next fortnight you should see the amounts attached and any extra paid go into credit against your account.

But, I'm still wondering if we will need to submit our tax returns to start getting the payments that's how it's always worked when they reimbursed you isn't it?

[AnyDream]

They are going to withhold 15% of the normal rebate amount, which will then be reconciled at the end of the tax year. So, according to my DIY accounting, I'm expecting to pay 57.5% of what I would normally pay (because 15% of 50% is 7.5%). So I've paid the FDC lady 57.5% of the usual amount and we'll see how good my accounting was when she gets her paperwork back from the office.

[Miss E]

Thanks MD, I hadn't come across that one.

[briggsy's girl]

Someone pm me after 6 tonight to remind me to come back to this

[Floweryfields]

I'm a director - from what I can understand, one I've submitted and retrieved after the changes come in, the CCR will then apply to accounts. If I issue statements in advance and I haven't submitted and retrieved, then the CCR amount will not show up on the statements yet.

So last week, it didn't show for those families, but today, after retrieving last weeks usages, it is showing the CCR amount for these families.

[briggsy's girl]

ok, i back!

as ausgirl has said, the first week of the year (fortnight for some centres) there was no CCR on the statements as it's not paid in advance. any bill you get for child care paid before it's used has an estimate for CCB - if your circumstances change, you may end up having received too little or too much CCB in that week and your centre will generally adjust the bill once they have submitted usage and confirmed your entitlement

CCR is paid in arrears - AFTER you've used it. so child care centres will only get confirmation of the details after you've used the care. each centre is going to have their own protocol on how they administer this - some may charge you for your position at the centre in advance (so today july 12 they make you pay next weeks care - july 18-22). the same bill may include CCR from two weeks ago (so july 4-8)
then each week, your ccb would be charged for the next week, your ccr would be for the arrears period

others, because CCR is set up for the full financial year) may estimate CCR entitlement along with CCB for the weeks in advance - and any CCR you've missed the past couple of weeks will become a credit on your account towards the out of pocket expenses you have

does that make sense?

[Astrid]

I did the same as you MaryDean. Calculated the difference myself and paid that. Not sure when my centre will be submitting, so it will be interesting to see how it comes out.

ETA: BG - yep that makes sense, but is kind of messy. Hopefully once all flowing in and out of the accounts, what we have to pay will be clear.

[briggsy's girl]

yeah hopefully it won't be too long before it all makes more sense

unfortunately (fortunately?) i don't use child care, so i'm only being exposed to everything from a "put it in place" side of things, not a "this is how it will be implemented" side of things

oh and yeah, MD, you're right about the calculations! i haven't been telling customers we'll hold 15% of their entitlement back - just saying 42.5% of out of pockets will be paid to child care, 7.5% held til tax time. i don't like telling people they get 50% but 15% of THAT held back. it's easier to make it black and white (and i haven't had anyone say wtf? to me yet lol)

[Mum2SweetCs]

BG, I changed my CCR to directly debit from my current fees but I cannot find anywhere on the family assist website that says what my childcare frequency is? it tells me to call a number.

I am sure I changed it, should I be getting a confirmation?

I talked to my childcare director but they havent heard anything yet (do they have to chase it up or I do?)

I dont get CCB (ie its 0%), so does that mean its just simply 50% off my current fees?

Thanks

[briggsy's girl]

it will depend on whether you have opted for zero rate (with no chance of ccb top up at tax time) or zero rate with reconciliation at tax time. if it is the first, it will be a straight 50%, if it is the second, it will be the 42.5% with balance held time tax time

as mentioned earlier, the child care won't see any ccr payments until after the child care has been used and they put in usage statements - how it will work out from here is up to the child care centre admin. you can check through FAO but i would wait for a few days and see if your child care have put in their first week/fortnight of usage first and confirmed whether you do or don't have it in place. average wait times to FAO at the moment are 20mins plus

[Mum2SweetCs]

Thank you! you're a gem!

[AnyDream]

yeah hopefully it won't be too long before it all makes more sense

unfortunately (fortunately?) i don't use child care, so i'm only being exposed to everything from a "put it in place" side of things, not a "this is how it will be implemented" side of things

oh and yeah, MD, you're right about the calculations! i haven't been telling customers we'll hold 15% of their entitlement back - just saying 42.5% of out of pockets will be paid to child care, 7.5% held til tax time. i don't like telling people they get 50% but 15% of THAT held back. it's easier to make it black and white (and i haven't had anyone say wtf? to me yet lol)

So...at tax time, when I've paid the centre that extra 7.5% all year, I'm assuming that those funds will be returned to me via some kind of centrelink reconciliation process?

[briggsy's girl]

yup - once you've done your taxes, it will be reconciled the same as FTB and CCB. provided estimates have been accurate all year, you'll get the 7.5% back
if you've overestimated your income, you will get a CCB top up, which will reduce your CCR by half that amount (so if you get $100 of CCB, $50 of your CCR from that 7.5% will be kept)

does that make sense

[AnyDream]

Yes, I had to read it 4 times but it does make sense now! I bet there will be people ringing up to complain about it at reconciliation time next year though!

[briggsy's girl]

i break it down on a per week or per day basis for people - and if they really struggle, i ask them to grab pen and paper and write it out. it can be frustrating when you're not understanding (or not able to make yourself understood!) so i will dumb it down as much as i can (sorry, i don't mean that to sound offensive!! but it's the only way i can think of to explain it lol)

obviously my understanding is a lot different to a customer and sometimes i have to take it back to basics