Centrelink Payments. Is There a Financial Year Disadvantage?

wau2 on 09/08/2017 - 12:32
Last edited 09/08/2017 - 12:55 by 1 other user

Hi I wanted to ask the Ozbargain community as I await to hear back from Centrelink (which is like 2 hours on phone and like a week in emails)

A lot of Centrelink payments are based on financial year and I want to clarify the following point.

My first child was born in July and my wife took July 2014 - June 2015 off (whole financial year) and received no income so for income tests her taxable income for the year was 0. She was eligible for payments.

My second child was born in December, and my wife will take December 2016 - December 2017 off but she received income each financial year for the 6 months she work, As a result her taxable was say $40k (for working July to Dec 2016), and also another $40k for working (Jan 2018 to June 2109).

Because of the date my child was born, am I disadvantaged because all Centrelink payments are calculated based on financial year?

Thanks in advance

• 

  Baysew on 09/08/2017 - 12:41

  +19

  Welcome to Ozbargain, your out sourced Centrelink information provider.

  Your enquiry is important to us and to serve you better, please advise us which Centrelink payment your enquiry relates to.

  • 

    QW3RTY on 09/08/2017 - 12:58

    +7

    We have not detected a response.

    If your enquiry is about disadvantages suffered as a result of your child's birthdate, please mash the keypad now.

    • 

      altomic on 09/08/2017 - 14:18

      If your enquiry is about another disadvantage then please mash the keypad now.

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  peterpeterpumpkin on 09/08/2017 - 13:08

  +1

  I assume you're talking about Parental Leave Pay? I know nothing about this except that it's a taxable payment so what you're saying sounds about right.

  But then if your wife is the sole financial provider in the relationship then there may be other benefits. But I have no idea :)

  I was once on hold for ages (with a bank I think) and my portable home phone on speaker mode ran out of power just as they picked up…

• 

  Cheapo Moose on 09/08/2017 - 13:16

  +4

  No, you're not disadvantaged.

  If you're referring to Family Tax Benefit, it all gets reconciled at the end of financial year anyway.

  So if you were underpaid based on taxable income, you'll get an arrears payment.

  If you were overpaid…. you'll have a debt.

  Important to be accurate as possible with estimate, or even over-estimate.

  If you're referring to Parenting Payment Partnered, that's calculated on each fortnights income, so your partner would only be eligible for the periods she wasn't working.

  • 

    Cheapo Moose on 09/08/2017 - 13:20

    +1

    Just to add…. your income is also taken into consideration, so depending on your income, she may still not qualify for Parenting Payment.

    Should still qualify for some assistance via Family Tax Benefit though.

  • 

    wau2 on 09/08/2017 - 13:44

    Thanks!

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  cupcake on 09/08/2017 - 13:31

  Stop having children if you think you will be disadvantaged.

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  geek001 on 09/08/2017 - 14:02

  +2

  Disadvantaged if you look at only Centrelink payments. But in actual fact, your wife probably saved more in tax savings because of her leave splitting across 2 financial years. By taking into account the tax-free threshold over 2 years, she would have saved roughly $5915 in tax payments. I doubt the difference in Centrelink payments add up to more than that.

  I could be wrong though depending on your circumstances. Perhaps you and your wife should time your kids more carefully, maybe declare September mating season. :)

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  [Deactivated] on 09/08/2017 - 18:27

  How about your income? Centrelink takes your annual income and assets into consideration as well. If you own too much, you are out of luck. If your spouse earns too much, you are out of luck as well.