Reproduced from Centrelink's "A Guide to Australian
Government Payments 1 July - 19 September 2010"
Basic Conditions of Eligibility
Residence Requirements
Basic Rates
Income Test
Assets Test
Basic Conditions of Eligibility
- Gives extra assistance to sole parent families and to two-parent
families with one main income where one parent chooses to stay
at home or to balance some paid work with caring for their children.
- Family must have a dependent child aged under 16, or
- A qualifying dependent full-time student up to the age of
18 (who does not get Youth Allowance or a similar payment),
and
- Have care for 35 per cent of the time or more, and
- Have income under a certain amount.
Residence Requirements
- As for Family Tax Benefit Part A with the exception that
Family Tax Benefit Part B can generally only be paid for up
to 13 weeks of a temporary absence from Australia. However,
the length of your last return to Australia, or the type of
visa you hold, may affect your entitlement whilst absent from
Australia.
Note: Family Tax
Benefit may be stopped if you leave Australia without notifying
the Family Assistance Office.
Basic Rates
- Payments are made by the Family Assistance Office either fortnightly
as a lump sum at the end of the financial year to a bank, credit
union or building society account.
- Family Tax Benefit Part B includes a supplement which is available
only after the end of the financial year following the lodgement
of tax returns and may be used to offset overpayments.
- Maximum rates of Family Tax Benefit Part B:
| Age of youngest child |
Per fortnight |
Per year |
| Under 5 years |
$136.36 |
$3,909.15 |
| 5-15 years (or 16-18 years if a full-time
student) |
$95.06 |
$2,832.40 |
Note: Payment per
year figures include the Family Tax Benefit Part B Supplement
($354.05 per family for the 2010-11 financial year) but the fortnightly
figures do not. The supplement can only be paid after the end
of the financial year.
Note: The option
of claiming and receiving annual lump sum payments from the Australian
Taxation Office ceased on 1 July 2009.
Income Test
- For the 2008-09 financial year onwards, eligibility for Family
Tax Benefit Part B is limited to families where the higher income
earner in a couple, or a sole parent, has an income of $150,000
per year or less. However, if you get an income support payment
from Centrelink or the Department of Veterans Affairs this income
limit will not apply.
- Single parents automatically receive the maximum amount of
Family Tax Benefit Part B if they have an income of $150,000
or less.
- For two-parent families where the higher income earner has
an income of $150,000 per year or less, it is the income of
the lower earner that affects how much Family Tax Benefit Part
B the family will receive. The lower earner can have income
up to $4,745 each income year and still receive the maximum
rate of Family Tax Benefit Part B. Payments are reduced by 20
cents for each dollar of income earned over $4,745.
- Eligible two-parent families can still receive some Family
Tax Benefit Part B if:
- their youngest child is aged under 5 years and the lower
income earner has income less than $24,291 pa; or
- their youngest child is aged between 5 and 18 years and
the lower income earner has income less than $18,907 pa.
- You and your partner must lodge a tax return or tell the Family
Assistance Office that you are not required to lodge a tax return
or any Family Tax Benefit received will have to be repaid.
Note: From January
2010 you may also be prohibited from receiving your Family Tax
Benefit by fortnightly installments if you have outstanding income
tax returns.
Assets Test
Copyright © 2010 Forsyte
Consulting Pty Ltd unless otherwise stated.
