2009 Budget – Reform of family payments

Written on 18th May, 2009

Reform of family payments from 1 July 2009

From 1 July 2009, as a cost reduction measure, the FTB –A payment rates will be indexed by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) consistent with other family payment such as FTB-B and the Baby Bonus. Currently the maximum rates of FTB-A for children under the age of 16 are benchmarked to the higher of a proportion of the combined couple rate of pension payments, or CPI.

The upper income threshold for FTB-A, FTB-B, dependency tax offsets and the Baby Bonus will remain at its current level until July 2012. These thresholds would ordinarily be indexed by CPI.

The following upper thresholds will remain:

Benefit Type	Income purpose	Cut off threshold
Family Tax Benefit Part B	Income of primary income earner	$150,000
Dependency tax offset	Income of taxpayerclaiming the offset	$150,000
Baby Bonus	Combined family income in the six months following the birth of the child	$75,000
Family Tax Benefit Part A	Combined family income before losing entitlement	$94,316 (plus $3,796 for each additional child)