If you get FTB and CCS, it’s twice as important your family income estimate is accurate.
If you earn more than what you estimated, we may pay you too much CCS and FTB. If this happens, you’ll owe us money which you’ll have to pay back.
If you overestimate your income and don’t get enough CCS or FTB, we may pay you a top up when we balance your payments. Find out more about how we balance your FTB and how we balance your CCS.
Find out more about how your income affects CCS.
What you need to do
You need to let us know when there’s a change to your family’s income. You may also want to update your CCS withholding percentage or your FTB payment choice.
Update your family’s income estimate
Even a small change in your family’s income can affect your payment. When you know there may be a change, update your family income estimate as soon as possible to avoid an overpayment.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to update your estimate.
You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app. It only takes a few minutes to do.
If you don’t have a myGov account or a Centrelink online account you’ll need to create them.
Adjust the CCS withholdings
You can increase your CCS withholding percentage. We withhold 5% of your subsidy to help reduce the chance of you owing money. You can increase your withholding online, up to 2 times a year. If you’d like to change it more often than this, you’ll need to call the Families line.
If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to update your withholding.
You can also use the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app. It only takes a few minutes to do.
Find out more information on how to change your withholding percentage in our Centrelink online account help guide.
Example where a family underestimates their income
Monique and Jon have a child in centre based care 5 days a week. Monique has claimed CCS. At the start of the financial year, Monique estimated their family income to be $80,000. Monique estimates she will earn $60,000 and Jon will earn $20,000. Based on this, we’ll subsidise the child care fees up to 90%.
During the year, Monique got $20,100 in subsidy paid direct to their child care provider. We withheld $1,005 in subsidy. Monique also got $5,100 in FTB Part A and Part B.
After balancing their payments, their actual family income was $100,000. Monique earned $70,000 and Jon earned $30,000 during the year.
Because Monique and Jon earned more than they estimated, they have an overpayment. The overpayment is $7,400 for FTB and CCS. We’ll use the $1,005 we withheld to reduce the amount of CCS owed. They’ll still have to pay back $6,395. This includes $3,395 in CCS and $3,000 in FTB Part A and FTB Part B.
Contact numbers available on this page.
Centrelink families line
Use this line if you need help with family payments, such as Family Tax Benefit, Child Care Subsidy, Parental Leave Pay, Foster Child Health Care Card, Health Care Card or Pensioner Concession Card.
There are other ways you may want to contact us.