Cancellation of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) 007-07090020

Note: do not manually cancel FTB to change a payment choice to nil. See Family Tax Benefit (FTB) claim options and payment choices.

The system will automatically cancel FTB if required when the customers circumstances are updated.

Manual cancellation should only occur in limited circumstances.

Customer request

If a customer contacts to request that their FTB be cancelled, discuss if there have been any changes in their circumstances. Once updated, this may automatically cancel or reduce their payments. Do not complete manual cancellation. Some common scenarios include:

• Change of care, see Customer advises care arrangements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• Income changes, see Updating income estimates for the current financial year
• Marital status changes, see Family assistance customer becomes partnered

Updating the change in circumstances ensures:

• the customers details are up to date and
• any automatic cancellation or reduction in payments occurs

For a list of codes and if they are for automatic or manual cancellation, see Cancellation, rejection and Current Zero Rate codes for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

In case of future contact being required (for example, debts outstanding), check with the customer that their contact details are up to date, such as address, phone number, etc.

Is there a change of circumstances that would result in automatic cancellation?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, for manual coding, go to Step 3

Code the change in circumstances as per the relevant Operational Blueprint. The system will reassess FTB. The results will show on the Assessment Results (AR) screen

Is the result correct?

• Yes, complete the activity. Go to Step 7
• No, refer case to Local Peer Support (LPS) for further investigation

Manual cancellation should only occur in limited circumstances.

Is the cancellation due to customer request?

• Yes, go to Step 4
• No, go to Step 5

Ask the customer why they want to cancel their payments.

Change of circumstances

If the customer requests cancellation of FTB due to change of circumstances, follow the relevant Operational Blueprint to update the change in circumstances. In most cases, coding the change in circumstances will automatically cancel FTB.

Potential overpayment

FTB instalment customers may ask to cancel FTB to reduce the chance of an overpayment and receive their FTB after the end of the income year. Encourage these customers to remain current on FTB and elect a payment choice to defer FTB Part A and Part B to the end of the financial year, rather than have their FTB cancelled.

If the customer is reluctant to update their circumstances or payment choice, and still request to cancel their payment, document this on the record.

Tell the customer they will:

• need to lodge a new claim if they wish to be reassessed for payments
• be subject to reconciliation and may still incur an overpayment

In Customer First, go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen and enter the following details:

• Service Reason: FTB
• Action: CAN
• Reason: CLR
• Effect Date: See Family Tax Benefit (FTB) dates of effect
• Source: Code the source of the cancellation
• Receipt Date: Code the date of receipt

Go to Step 6.

In Customer First, go to the Benefit Action (BA) screen and enter the following details:

• Service Reason: FTB
• Action: CAN
• Reason: using appropriate cancellation code. See Cancellation, rejection and Current Zero Rate codes for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)
• Effect Date: See Family Tax Benefit (FTB) dates of effect
• Source: Code the source of the cancellation
• Receipt Date: Code the date of receipt

Go to the AR screen and check the result.

Is the result correct?

• Yes, complete the activity. Go to Step 7
• No, refer case to Local Peer Support (LPS) for further investigation

A manual letter will be required if:

• a Manual Follow-up (MFU) activity has been created on the Activity List (AL) screen after the cancellation, or
• the FTB has been manually cancelled for reason OTH or INV

Is there a MFU on AL or has FTB been cancelled with reason OTH or INV?

• Yes, send a manual letter to the customer, go to Step 8
• No, go to Step 9

If there is an MFU on the AL screen, select the 'ADV' activity and complete the advice.

If there is no MFU activity on the AL screen complete a Q999. See Creating a Q999 or Q888 letter.

The letter should advise the customer of the reason for cancellation of payment and their review and appeal rights.

Ensure the DOC includes:

• the reason for the cancellation
• how the information was received
• discussions with the customer including the balancing process, which may result in an overpayment for entitlements already received
• if a manual advice was sent and other relevant information
• relevant Family Assistance Act Reference for the cancellation reason

For more information, including document requirements and Act References for cancellation reasons, see:

• Online Document Recording (ODR), Resources page for Act References
• Creating, reviewing and deleting documents (including Fast Notes and DOA DOCs)

Existing Fast Note templates can be used for the below cancellation reasons. Select Auto text, use Families > SUS/CAN/RES and one of:

• FTB-CAN-FRC
• FTB-CAN-INC
• FTB-CAN-NDE
• FTB-CAN-OIS
• FTB-CAN-ENA

Did the customer have withholdings from their FTB for any Centrelink overpayments?

• Yes, go to Step 10
• No, procedure ends here

If the customer's payment is cancelled and withholdings were being applied to their FTB, run the Debt Repayment Guided Procedure.

If the guided procedure refers to the Debt Recovery team:

• Transfer the customer to the Debt Recovery team and/or
• Give the phone number for the customer to call the Debt Recovery team as soon as possible to arrange payment