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If you get Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or Child Care Subsidy (CCS), we balance your payments after the financial year ends. The financial year runs from 1 July to 30 June.
Not everyone has to do the same thing for us to balance these payments. What you need to do depends on your situation. We’ve put together common examples to help you understand what you need to do.
If you separated during the financial year, your ex-partner’s income may affect your payments. Find out more about balancing your FTB and balancing your CCS.
You only got CCS
There are things you need to do before we can balance your CCS payments. Here’s an example to help you understand what you need to do.
You need to confirm your income before we can balance your CCS. You can do this by either:
- lodging a tax return with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO)
- telling us you don’t need to lodge a tax return and confirming how much income you got for the financial year.
Even though you can lodge your tax return from July with the ATO, it’s a good idea to wait until late-July for your information to pre-fill in myTax. Otherwise, you may have to amend your tax return if you make a mistake.
You can check if the pre-filled information is available by searching ‘pre-fill availability’ on the ATO website from 1 July.
If you don’t need to lodge a tax return, you must tell us and confirm how much income you got, even if that amount is nil.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to do this.
You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account, you’ll need to create them.
If you got emergency payments during the financial year some of these payments won’t be pre-filled when you lodge your tax return. They also won’t pre-fill if you tell us you don’t need to lodge. You must include the amount you got in your taxable income so we can balance your payments correctly. Find out more about payments that don’t show on your Centrelink payment summary.
You need to tell us your income even if it was nil or you’ve already told the ATO you don’t need to lodge. We can’t balance your CCS until you tell us your income.
You need to confirm your income by 30 June of the following financial year. Find out more about time limits for confirming your income for CCS.
If you separated from a partner during the financial year, we still need your ex-partner’s income. Find out more about how we balance your CCS payments if you have an ex-partner.
We’ll start balancing your CCS from mid-August, once you confirm your income and we have your child care attendance information. Find out more about when we’ll balance your CCS.
You get FTB or CCS, and were getting an income support payment for the whole year
There are things you need to do before we can balance your FTB or CCS payments. Here’s an example to help you understand what you need to do.
Use this example if, for the whole financial year, both of the following applied to you:
- you were single
- you got an income support payment and there was no gap in payment.
A gap in payment could have happened if your income support payment cancelled or reduced to zero due to employment income.
If you got FTB, you don’t need to do anything for us to balance your FTB. However, if you have a child support assessment, you may need to lodge a tax return.
If you got CCS, you must either:
- lodge a tax return with the ATO
- tell us you don’t need to lodge a tax return, and confirm how much income you got for the financial year.
Even though you can lodge your tax return from July with the ATO, you may want to wait until late-July for your information to pre-fill in myTax. Otherwise, you may have to amend your tax return if you make a mistake.
You can check if the pre-filled information is available by searching ‘pre-fill availability’ on the ATO website from 1 July.
If you don’t need to lodge a tax return, you must tell us and confirm how much income you got.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to do this.
You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account, you’ll need to create them.
If you got emergency payments during the financial year, some of these payments won’t pre-fill when you lodge your tax return. They also won’t pre-fill if you tell us you don’t need to lodge. You must include the amount you got in your taxable income so we can balance your payments correctly. Find out more about payments that don’t show on your Centrelink payment summary.
If you got CCS, you need to tell us your income even if you’ve already told the ATO you don’t need to lodge. We can’t balance your CCS until you tell us your income.
You need to confirm your family income by 30 June of the following financial year. Find out more about time limits for confirming your income for CCS.
If you separated from a partner during the financial year, we may still need your ex-partner’s income. Find out more about how we balance your FTB payments and how we balance your CCS payments if you have an ex-partner.
We balance FTB and CCS separately. When we balance your FTB depends on when you get your final FTB payment.
We’ll start balancing your CCS from mid-August, once you confirm your income and we have your child care attendance information.
Find out more about when we’ll balance your FTB and balance your CCS.
You get FTB and CCS, and don’t need to lodge a tax return
There are things you need to do before we can balance your FTB and CCS payments. Here’s an example to help you understand what you need to do.
You need to confirm your income before we can balance your payments.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to do this.
You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account, you’ll need to create them.
You can tell us you don’t need to lodge a tax return and confirm how much income you got via your Centrelink online account, linked to myGov or your Express Plus Centrelink mobile app. If you don’t have this, you’ll need to set this up.
If you got emergency payments during the financial year, some of these payments won’t pre-fill when you tell us you don’t need to lodge. You must include the amount you got in your taxable income so we can balance your payments correctly. Find out more about payments that don’t show on your Centrelink payment summary.
If you got CCS, you need to tell us your income even if your income was nil or you’ve already told the ATO you don’t need to lodge. We can’t balance your CCS until you tell us your income.
You only need to confirm your income once for both FTB and CCS. You don’t need to include FTB or CCS as income.
You need to confirm your family income by 30 June of the following financial year.
If you separated from a partner during the financial year, we may still need your ex-partner’s income. Find out more about how we balance your FTB payments and how we balance your CCS payments if you have an ex-partner.
We balance FTB and CCS separately.
We’ll balance your FTB once both of the following occur:
- you’re paid your final FTB payment for the financial year
- you’ve confirmed your income.
We’ll start balancing your CCS from mid-August, once you confirm your income and we have your child care attendance information.
Find out more about when we’ll balance your FTB and balance your CCS.
You get FTB and CCS, and need to lodge a tax return
There are things you need to do before we can balance your FTB and CCS payments. Here’s an example to help you understand what you need to do.
You need to confirm your income before we can balance your payments. You can do this by lodging a tax return with the ATO from July.
Even though you can lodge your tax return from July, it’s a good idea to wait until late-July for your information to pre-fill in myTax. Otherwise, you may have to amend your tax return if you make a mistake.
You can check if the pre-filled information is available by searching ‘pre-fill availability’ on the ATO website from 1 July.
If you got emergency payments during the financial year, some of these payments won’t pre-fill when you lodge your tax return. You must include the amount you got in your taxable income so we can balance your payments correctly. Find out more about payments that don’t show on your Centrelink payment summary.
You can lodge your tax return online. Find out more about how to lodge online on the ATO website.
Once you’ve lodged your tax return, you don’t need to do anything else. We’ll get the income information from the ATO.
If you separated from a partner during the financial year, we may still need your ex-partner’s income. Find out more about how we balance your FTB payments and how we balance your CCS payments if you have an ex-partner.
We balance FTB and CCS separately.
We’ll balance your FTB once both of the following occur:
- you’re paid your final FTB payment for the financial year
- the ATO sends us your income information, which can take up to 28 days from when you get your notice of assessment.
We’ll balance your CCS from mid-August, once you confirm your income and we have your child care attendance information.
Find out more about when we’ll balance your FTB and balance your CCS.
You want to claim FTB as a lump sum
There are things you need to do before we can finalise your FTB lump sum claim. Here’s an example to help you understand what you need to do.
You need to submit a lump sum claim for FTB and confirm your income. This is so we can check if you were eligible for FTB during the financial year. You need to confirm your income before we can finalise your claim.
You have until 30 June of the following financial year to submit a lump sum claim for FTB and either:
- lodge a tax return with the ATO
- tell us you don’t need to lodge a tax return, and confirm how much income you got when you claim.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to do this.
You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app.
If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account, you’ll need to create them.
If you need to lodge a tax return, you can do this online. Find out more about how to lodge online on the ATO website.
Even though you can lodge your tax return from July with the ATO, it’s a good idea to wait until late-July for your information to pre-fill in myTax. Otherwise, you may have to amend your tax return if you make a mistake.
You can check if the pre-filled information is available by searching ‘pre-fill availability’ on the ATO website from 1 July.
If you got emergency payments during the financial year, some of these payments won’t pre-fill when you lodge your tax return. You must include the amount you got in your taxable income so we can balance your payments correctly. Find out more about payments that don’t show on your Centrelink payment summary.
If you separated from a partner during the financial year, we may still need your ex-partner’s income. Find out more about how we balance your FTB payments if you have an ex-partner.
When we complete your FTB claim, we’ll check if you’re eligible for any supplements. This includes:
If you were renting, we’ll also check if you can get Rent Assistance when you submit your FTB lump sum claim. To get this you may need to lodge a claim for FTB for the current financial year as well.
You can’t claim CCS as a lump sum.