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There is an assets test for Farm Household Allowance. This means that we consider how much you own when we assess your claim. There is an assets cut-off limit which can mean you won’t be eligible if your assets have a higher value.
The assets cut-off limit must have a total net value of less than $5.5 million. We work this out using both:
- your combined personal assets
- farm assets.
This applies to both an individual farmer and to the combined assets of a farming couple.
We work out the net value of your assets by looking at the equity you hold. This means, we do both of the following:
- subtract any debt owed on the asset
- assess the likely price the assets would attract if sold without any improvements, in the current market conditions.
If you meet the assets cut-off limit but are not sure about the personal and farm income test, you can still submit a claim for us to assess.
What’s an asset
To get Farm Household Allowance you need to tell us about any assets. This can include any of the following:
- farmland
- farm machinery
- livestock and crops
- houses, excluding your principal residence on land up to 2 hectares
- home contents
- cash
- all financial accounts including farm management deposits.
If you gift a farm asset, it’s then treated as a non-farm asset. This means if you gift over the value of the gifting free areas, we’ll both:
- count the excess in your assets test
- apply deeming and include it in your income test.
Read more about gifting and how much you can gift.
Assets attributed to you
We don’t count the value of the home you live in and the first 2 hectares of land it’s on as an asset, if it meets both of the following:
- the land is on one title
- the land is used wholly or partly for private or domestic purposes.
The land is deemed to be used wholly or partly for private or domestic purposes if it’s not entirely for commercial or farming purposes. This applies even if a trust or company owns your home.
Read more about private trusts and companies.