May 2014 Budget Edition -- Family Tax Benefit reforms

INDIVIDUALS & FAMILIES

Family Tax Benefit reforms

In a bid to ensure that family payments support those most in need of assistance and that the welfare system remains sustainable, the government has introduced a range of reforms to the family tax benefit payments:


  • The Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part B primary earner income limit will be reduced from the current $150,000 pa to $100,000 pa. The reduced limits will apply from 1 July 2015.
  • From 1 July 2015, the FTB Part B payments will be limited to families whose youngest child is younger than six years of age. A transitional arrangement will ensure families with a youngest child aged six and over on 30 June 2015 remain eligible for the payments for two years.
  • A new allowance of $750 per child aged between six and 12 years will be introduced for single parents on the maximum rate of FTB Part A whose youngest child is between six and 12 years of age from the point when they become ineligible for the FTB Part B. This allowance will commence from 1 July 2015.
  • The FTB Part A Large Family Supplement (currently $313.90 per child pa) will be limited to families with four or more children and will be paid in respect of the fourth and each subsequent child in the family. This change will apply from 1 July 2015.
  • FTB payment rates will be maintained for two years by pausing the indexation of the maximum and base rates of FTB Part A and the rate of FTB Part B from 1 July 2014 until 1 July 2016.
  • From 1 July 2015, the FTB Part A and FTB Part B end-of-year supplements will return to their original amounts of $600 pa for each FTB Part A child and $300 pa for each FTB Part B family and cease indexation.
  • The FTB Part A per child add-on to the higher income free threshold for each additional child will be removed from 1 July 2015.


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