ATO Interpretative Decision
ATO ID 2002/334 (Withdrawn)
Income Tax
Family Tax Benefit - recipient of parenting payment - adjusted taxable incomeFOI status: may be released
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Reason for withdrawal: Decision invalid because the Commissioner of Taxation is not empowered to issue rulings or ATO Interpretative Decisions on Eligibility for Family Tax Benefits. Please refer to the Family and Community Services Website for further information on this topic.This document incorporates revisions made since original publication. View its history and amending notices, if applicable.
This ATOID provides you with the following level of protection:
If you reasonably apply this decision in good faith to your own circumstances (which are not materially different from those described in the decision), and the decision is later found to be incorrect you will not be liable to pay any penalty or interest. However, you will be required to pay any underpaid tax (or repay any over-claimed credit, grant or benefit), provided the time limits under the law allow it. If you do intend to apply this decision to your own circumstances, you will need to ensure that the relevant provisions referred to in the decision have not been amended or repealed. You may wish to obtain further advice from the Tax Office or from a professional adviser.
Issue
Is Parenting Payment (single) a component of adjusted taxable income (ATI) under Schedule 3 to the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 (Family Assistance Act) for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) purposes?
Decision
Yes. Parenting Payment (single) is a component of ATI under Schedule 3 to the Family Assistance Act. However, single parents in receipt of an income support payment from Centrelink, such as Parenting Payment (single), are not required to estimate their ATI in order to receive Family Tax Benefits.
Facts
The taxpayer is in receipt of Parenting Payment (single).
Reasons for Decision
To be eligible for FTB's, a taxpayer must pass an income test that takes into account income of the taxpayer's family. Family income for FTB purposes is known as ATI.
Clause 2 in Schedule 3 of the Family Assistance Act provides that the ATI is the sum of:
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- taxable income;
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- adjusted fringe benefits;
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- target foreign source;
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- net rental property losses; and
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- tax free pension or benefits;
minus half the annual amount of any child support or child maintenance the taxpayer or their partner pays.
Parenting payment is an assessable social security payment, with the exception of any supplementary amounts paid for rental assistance, remote area allowance, pharmaceutical allowance and incentive allowance.
Taxpayers who choose to receive fortnightly payments of FTB will generally provide an estimate of their ATI for the current financial year to the Family Assistance Office Centrelink. This estimate will be used to work out the rate of FTB the taxpayer is entitled to receive. However, an estimate does not need to be provided by a single parent who is in receipt of an income support payment from Centrelink, such as Parenting Payment (single).
The taxpayer is in receipt of Parenting Payment (single) which is included in the ATI for the purposes of calculating entitlement to the FBT. However, the taxpayer is not required to provide an estimate of their ATI as they are in receipt of Parenting Payment (single).
Date of decision: 5 February 2002
Legislative References:
A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999
schedule 3 clause 2
Other References:
Family Assistance Office publications
Taxpack
FamilyBuzz magazine
Keywords
Family tax assistance
ISSN: 1445-2782
| Date: | Version: | |
| 5 February 2002 | Original statement | |
| You are here | 12 April 2002 | Archived |