What to do at tax time

If you pay or receive child support you must confirm your income at the end of every financial year. You can do this by lodging your tax return.

If you don’t need to lodge a tax return you should complete a non-lodgment advice with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) and confirm your income with Child Support.

To find out if you need to lodge a tax return or complete non-lodgment advice, use the one of the tools on the ATO website.

If you lodge a tax return

When you lodge a tax return with the ATO, your income is provided to us to confirm your child support assessment.

If you receive Family Tax Benefit (FTB) or Child Care Subsidy (CCS) your information will be provided by the ATO to balance your payments

If you don’t need to lodge a tax return

If you don’t need to lodge a tax return and you complete a non-lodgment advice with the ATO, you also need to confirm this and tell us about your income.

If your Child Support online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to tell us your income.

Sign in to myGov

You can also tell us by:

• using the Express Plus Child Support mobile app
• using the myGov app
• calling us on the Child Support Enquiry Line.

You can also complete the income declaration form and send it to us by:

• using your Child Support online account through myGov
• by post or fax.

If you also receive FTB or CCS, you need to complete the non-lodgment advice in your Centrelink online account through myGov, the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app, myGov app or by calling the Centrelink families line.

If you’re not ready to lodge your tax return

It’s important you lodge your tax return on time. If you have your income information but aren’t ready to lodge your tax return, you can tell us your income.

Tell us your income

If your Child Support online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to tell us your income.

Sign in to myGov

You can also tell us by:

• using the Express Plus Child Support mobile app
• using the myGov app
• calling us on the Child Support Enquiry Line.

You can also complete the income declaration form and send it to us by:

• using your Child Support online account through myGov
• by post or fax.

What to include in your tax return

If you’re lodging a tax return, there may be some details you need from us to lodge.

If you pay child support

Child support you pay is not deductible for tax purposes. However, you may report how much child support you paid in the financial year in your tax return. Read more on the ATO’s website about reporting child support you paid.

We may deduct child support you pay when working out your adjusted taxable income. We use this to work out your eligibility for some payments and services, including FTB.

If your Child Support online account is linked to myGov and you paid through Child Support Collect, sign in now to find the total amount of child support you paid in the financial year.

Sign in to myGov

You can also use the Express Plus Child Support mobile app or the myGov app.

If you paid child support through Private Collect, you can check your records to work out how much child support you paid in the financial year.

If you receive child support or spousal support

You don’t pay tax on the child support and spousal support you receive. This means you don’t have to report them in your tax return.

If you get other payments from us you may need to report them if they’re taxable. Find out more about taxable Centrelink payments.

How we use your tax return

We use both parent’s income to work out who pays child support and how much. We use income information from your tax return. We get this from the ATO once your tax return has been processed.

The ATO shares this information with us and we will send you a new assessment letter. Read more about how your income affects your child support.

If your current income is lower than the income we’re using

If your income is more than 15% lower than the income we’re using in the child support assessment, you may decide to use a child support income estimate. This means instead of using your actual income from the previous financial year, we use an income estimate. This is what you think you’ll earn in the current financial year.

We can only change your assessment from the day that you tell us to use an income estimate. You must keep your estimate up to date and update it as your income changes.

If you or the other parent have previously estimated income

After the financial year ends, we compare your child support income estimate to your actual income in your tax return. If your income estimate is lower than your actual income, we’ll reassess your child support assessment. This may mean you get a debt or overpayment and we can use your tax refund to repay this. Read more about how we recover debts at tax time.

Backdated changes to your child support could impact your past rate of FTB. This may mean you have either been overpaid or underpaid FTB. Read more about what happens if we update your child support assessment while you get FTB.

It’s also important to remember your estimate ends on the last day of the financial year. This means we’ll go back to using your actual income from the last financial year on 1 July.

If you need to estimate again you need do this before the end of the current financial year. If you tell us after, we can only use your estimate from the day that you tell us.

Read more about when you need to update your estimate.

When we can use your tax refund

We can use a tax refund to pay any outstanding child or spousal support amounts. We can do this even after your case has ended or your child has turned 18. This includes if you owe child support or if you’ve been overpaid child support.

If this would cause you hardship, call us on the Child Support enquiry line. Do this before you lodge your tax return.

Find out more about how we recover overdue child and spousal support.

What happens if you or the other parent lodge a tax return late

It’s important you lodge your tax return on time or update your income details with us. We use the most up to date income information we have available to make an accurate assessment. If you haven’t lodged a tax return on time, we’ll work out a provisional income. Read more about what income we use if you haven’t lodged your tax return.

If your actual income was lower than the provisional income, we usually can’t go back and change your income at a later date. This means if you pay child support, you may overpay.

If you lodge late and your actual income is higher than the provisional income we used, you may get a debt or overpayment.

This can also impact your FTB if either parent lodges late and we update your past assessment. Read more about what happens if we update your child support assessment while you get FTB.

If the other parent’s income isn’t correct

There are options available if the income or earning capacity we’re using for a parent isn’t reflected in the assessment. This includes if the other parent hasn’t lodged a tax return.

Find out more about changing your child support assessment in special circumstances.

If you don't lodge

If you don't lodge your tax return or confirm your income in your Child Support Online Account we may take further action. We can provide your details for tax lodgement enforcement action from the ATO. You can find out more information about the consequences of not lodging your tax return on the ATO website