Читать книгу 101 Ways to Save Money on Your Tax – Legally! 2017-2018 - Adrian Raftery - Страница 13

Ask the parents of any young child and they will tell you that their biggest expense is child care. If you have a child who is attending child care services approved by, or registered with, the government you may be eligible for the Child Care Benefit (CCB). You can apply for the benefit at the Family Assistance Office. The amount you receive will depend on the type and amount of care that you use, your income, the reason you are using care and the number of children that you have in care.

TIP

If you have identified that you were eligible for the CCB in previous financial years, but have not received it, you can lodge a lump-sum claim with the Family Assistance Office. You must do this within two years of the end of the financial year for which you are claiming.

The Child Care Rebate is additional help available to eligible working families to assist with covering the cost of child care. It is a 50 per cent rebate, up to $7500 per child per year per primary claimant, based on the out-of-pocket cost for approved child care after the CCB has been paid. Note that the Child Care Rebate is a different payment from the CCB. To receive the rebate you must first claim the CCB for approved care.

TAX FACT

According to the Department of Human Services, you may be eligible to claim the Child Care Rebate if you:

•were eligible for the CCB, even if you received no payment because your income was too high

•passed the work/training/study test

•ensure that your children under seven either meet the Government's immunisation requirements or have an exemption

•used approved child care such as long day care, family day care, in-home care, outside school hours care, vacation care and/or some occasional care services.

Parents can claim up to 50 hours of CCB per child per week dependent on passing a work/training/study test. Once eligible, the rebate is paid weekly or fortnightly by Centrelink based on child care attendance information it receives electronically from your service provider. Even if your child is absent from child care, the CCB and Child Care Rebate can still be paid in some situations. You can receive payments for up to 42 absences per financial year, if you are charged for child care. These absent days can be taken for any reason with no evidence required.

TAX FACT

It was announced in the 2016–17 federal budget that the CCB and Child Care Rebate would be abolished on 1 July 2018 and replaced with the Child Care Subsidy (CCS). Up to 100 hours of carev per child per fortnight will be subsidised, dependent on a new work activity test. Families with incomes under $65 710 will receive a CCS of 85 per cent, reducing to 20 per cent for those families with incomes over $340 000 with no subsidy for family incomes over $350 000. An annual cap of $10 000 will be applied to families with incomes over $185 710.

PITFALL

Under the No Jab No Pay legislation, if your children (up to the age of 19) do not meet the immunisation requirements then you will not be eligible for Child Care Benefit. Your child must be fully immunised, on a catch-up schedule or have a valid exemption in order to receive these payments. Note that while conscientious objection is not considered an exemption category, children with verified medical exemptions by a General Practitioner such as medical contraindication, natural immunity or participation in a recognised vaccine study are allowed.