Reconciliation of Child Care Benefit (CCB) for approved care 007-11020000

For 2011-12 years onwards, select the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Child Care Benefit (CCB) Reconciliation workflow via Workspace. 'Key events' which provides information for the relevant payment and year. Select the link or the AMR number to drill down for further details if required.

For 2010-11 or earlier years, select Workspace> Family Assistance> Reconciliation> Child Care Benefit Reconciliation to June 2011. Selecting this will navigate to the FAO Reconciliation and Claim Summary (FRCS) screen, select the CCF reconciliation line for the relevant financial year. Further information can be viewed on the CCF Calculation Result (FACR) and Payment summary (PS) screens.

See CCB reconciliation and lump sum claim calculation screens.

CCF reconciliation can occur from the fourth Monday in July of the lodgement year.

Reconciliation can result in:

• Reconciliation completing, or
• Reconciliation pending if required information is not available, for example, if awaiting actual income details needed for the customer or their current partner from the ATO

CCB reconciliation can occur for the following customers without actual income. This allows Child Care Rebate (CCR) to be paid sooner for:

• Customers who elected zero rate only and who are not eligible for a top up payment (zero rate was in force for entire year)
• Customers who have not received a fee reduction during the CCB year, including customers assessed as zero rate for the entire year due to:
• non-compliant Tax File Number (TFN)
• zero rate with entitlement at the end of the financial year
• estimate was not acceptable
• failure to provide an estimate

Special rules apply if the customer has separated from the person who was their partner in the relevant year. See Previous partners and Family Tax Benefit (FTB) reconciliation.

Forced reconciliation in November

In some cases, reconciliation is delayed until mid-November of the lodgement year. For example, low income review in case actual income details are received, 300 day income support and no Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part B paid, CDA/DOP saved rate customers. See CCB reconciliation or lump sum claim pending.

CCB reconciliation can result in:

• A top up amount. After offsetting to recover any outstanding CCB reconciliation or CCR debts, any remaining top-up will be issued to the customer's nominated account
• A nil adjustment. The customer has received their correct entitlement
• An overpayment. For more information, see:
• CCB overpayments arising from reconciliation and lump sum claims
• Debt recovery of Centrelink debts

Child Care Rebate (CCR) entitlement is calculated when CCB reconciliation occurs. Reconciliation of CCR takes into account any CCR paid direct to service, direct to customer or quarterly for the relevant financial year.

All customers will receive a letter following completion of the initial CCB reconciliation.

Letters can be viewed from the History Summary (HS) screen. If the result of CCB reconciliation is:

• Top up, the letter provides a summary of the reconciliation calculation and the amount of the top-up. It will also show details of any amounts that have been used to offset outstanding CCB reconciliation or Child Care Rebate (CCR) debts
• Nil adjustment, the letter will show the amount owing is nil. It will also give general information on the reconciliation process and the calculation details used
• Overpayment, the letter provides a summary of the reconciliation calculation and the amount of the overpayment. It shows details of any amounts used to offset the overpayment like tax refunds or CCR entitlement. It also contains information about the options available to the customer for repaying the amount

CCB reconciliation letters (top-up, nil adjustment or overpayment) include total amounts of ‘Child Care Benefit paid as reduced fees’ and ‘Child Care Benefit entitlement’ for all weeks regardless of whether the work/training/study test was met or not, or an exception applied/not applied.

However, CCR reconciliation letters only include weeks for which the work/training/study test was met or an exception applied.

Example

Customer paid Child Care Fees of $500 and received $100 CCB. However, they did not meet the work/training/study test or have an exception for a period when the Child Care Fees were $100 and CCB entitlement $20.

The CCR Reconciliation letter will advise the Child Care Fees were $400 and the CCB was $80 (that is, excluding the amount for the periods they did not meet the work/training/study test or have an exception).

CCB reconciliation covers all periods the customer had a CCB reduced fees assessment in place, including zero rate.

If the customer lodged their CCB reduced fees claim within 28 days of child care starting, all child care attendance should be included, as child care services can backdate the fee reduction up to 28 days before the date of claim.

CCF is based on Monday to Sunday child care weeks, e.g. CCB for 2014-15 covers the period 7 July 2014 to 5 July 2015.

Service Officers must:

• Select the Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Child Care Benefit (CCB) Reconciliation workflow via Workspace> Families Benefits> FTB and CCB Reconciliation and view Child Care Benefit for Approved Care Reconciliation Results. Check the dates in the CCF reconciliation period on the FAO Reconciliation and Claim Summary (FRCS), REXCCF or Benefit Status (XBS) screens
• Compare those periods with child care attendance details by selecting Workspace>Family Assistance > View Child Care Attendance
• If there are periods of attendance not paid period prior to the 28 day CCB claim backdated period, invite a CCB lump sum claim
• If all periods are paid for in the CCB claim but the customer indicates the child has attended care for periods child care attendance has not been received, advise the customer to contact their child care service and ask that they submit the attendance for the outstanding periods
• Record details on a DOC of any advice given or action taken

CCB entitlement is calculated in weekly periods from Monday to Sunday.

Dates of effect are calculated as follows:

• A date of effect in favour of the customer is calculated from the start of the week of the change of circumstances
• A date of effect not in the customer's favour is from the start of the week following the change of circumstances

The non-lodger/late lodger process that applies to FTB reconciliation does not apply to CCB reconciliation. There is no debt raising process for non-lodgers or late lodgers who have received fee reductions or CCR.

If a customer advises they are not required to lodge a tax return this must be updated. For more information, see Recording not required to lodge advice and previous year income.

The zero rate reason is displayed in CCB Percentage Reason: field on the CCB Calculation Period Assessment (CPAC) screen after selecting the calculation period from the CCF Calculation Result (FACR) or FAO Lump Sum Calculation (FLSC) screens.

CCB can be restricted to zero rate by any of the following:

• The customer requested zero rate only
• The customer is not Tax File Number (TFN) compliant for CCB. Partner TFN details only affect the rate for the partnered period
• The mutual customer identification process has resulted in a mismatch. Partner TFN details only affect the rate for the partnered period
• Actual income details needed for customer or current partner but not received from the ATO
• No income details (estimate or actual) for ex-partner - zero rate is paid for the ex-partnered period
• The customer is income tested but their income is over the threshold to be paid more than the zero rate

The customer record can be updated with TFN details or an estimate for the ex-partner. A re-reconciliation or recalculation of a lump sum claim will occur automatically after the details have been entered.

GCCB applies at the customer level and covers the customer's full child care fees and the work/training/study test is waived.

If the customer is an eligible grandparent for at least 1 child in their care attending child care, the GCCB rate and waiver of the work/training/study test apply to all children in the customer's care who are attending child care.

GCCB is not subject to income reconciliation and customers cannot incur an overpayment during a period they were eligible for GCCB.

If new child care attendance details are received for a customer for a period they were eligible for GCCB, the full amount of the entitlement will be paid to the customer.

If GCCB entitlement is retrospectively cancelled, for example, due to loss of care of a child or cancellation of income support, a CCB debt may occur for the customer.

CCB is limited to 24 hours per child per week unless the customer (and their partner) met the work/training/study test or an exception applies.

Updating the work/training/study test details for a customer whose CCB has already been reconciled will trigger a re-reconciliation. See Eligible hours for Child Care Benefit (CCB).

Exceptions:

• Periods of 24 hour care. The eligible hour limit is suspended across all services for that week. CCB is not paid for 24 hour care periods that are not approved
• GCCB covers the customer's full child care fee up to 50 hours
• Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB) may apply at the child, service or customer level and covers the full child care fee

The customer's weekly eligible hour limit is applied across all services.

If a customer uses more than 1 service, CCB is paid during the year based on the hours the customer has nominated to use at each service.

If the customer has not nominated the hours with the service, services are paid on a first in first paid basis during the year.

At reconciliation, CCB is paid up to the customer's weekly eligible hour limit, across all services.

This is a factor used to calculate a customer's CCB percentage.

It is based on the number of children in each type of care, according to child care attendance details provided by services.

The multiple child percentage is calculated separately for:

• occasional care
• all other types of approved care

It applies across all services.

This is a factor used to calculate a customer's CCB rate. A higher rate is paid for children not yet attending school.

A child is deemed to be attending school once they turn 6 years of age. An exemption may be recorded if the child is unable to attend school.

Details may be updated to trigger re-reconciliation if they are incorrect.

This is a factor used to calculate a customer’s CCB rate. The part-time percentage applies only to non-school children in care at approved long day care services.

The value of the part-time percentage depends on the number of hours charged at each approved long day care service a child attends.

• Services transfer attendance details directly to the Department of Social Services weekly and Department of Social Services (DSS) transfers details to Services Australia
• Services Australia calculates the customer's CCB and Child Care Rebate (CCR) fee reduction and passes the relevant amounts on to DSS
• DSS pass the child care entitlements on to the child care service for the week
• Reconciliation will not pend for attendance as services are expected to report attendance weekly and as reconciliation commences on fourth Monday in July, it is assumed that services have submitted all attendance for the year

Attendance received post-reconciliation

If a service reports attendance for additional weeks after reconciliation has already occurred, any top-up of:

• CCB and Grandparent Child Care Benefit (GCCB) is paid to the customer
• Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB) and JET Child Care fee assistance (JETCCFA) is paid to the child care service

Viewing attendance details

Customers registered for online accounts can use the View Child Care Details option to view attendance details reported by their services.

Use the Workspace>Family Assistance>View Child Care Attendance menu option to view a customer's attendance details.

If the child's attendance received does not match all periods attended by the child for a Child Care Service, the child's enrolment may not have been formalised. Advise the customer to provide their and their child's Customer Reference Numbers (CRNs) and dates of birth to all services and request the child care service to formalise the child's enrolment. The customer may dispute the attendance details, but this must be done with the Child Care Service.

• CCB and JET Child Care fee assistance (JETCCFA) are payable for up to the allowable absence limit for a child across all child care services in the relevant financial year
• Absences will be counted across all child care services and will not be paid past the allowable absence limit of 42 for a child unless evidence is provided to the child care service
• Public holidays are included in the absence count if the child would normally have attended the child care service on that day (if it were not a public holiday) and fees have been charged for that day for the child
• After the 42 day absence allowance has been reached, additional absences are paid if evidence has been provided to the child care service and flagged as part of the attendance
• At reconciliation, the system identifies customers who have received CCB for more than their allowed absences across all services and no further evidence has been provided

For more information, see Allowable and approved absences for CCB and JETCCFA.

Ask customer to confirm the period (weeks) under dispute.

Advise the customer they must contact the child care service. See Customer queries Child Care Management system (CCMS) information.

The Income Assessment Mode indicates where the income used in the CCB reconciliation calculation came from.

The FAO Calculation Period Income Summary (FICS) screen displays the income assessment mode used for each income component. See CCB reconciliation and lump sum claim calculation screens.

A different income mode may be used for the customer, current partner and ex-partner. Actual income of a deceased customer or partner is converted to an annualised actual income amount.

Income modes apply at the income component level according to the following hierarchy:

• Actual Income (AIN). Actual adjusted taxable income details which override estimated taxable income, reportable fringe benefits (including any exempt reportable fringe benefits) and net rental property losses. A different income mode applies to other income components
• Financial Year Estimate (FYE). The estimate of income component recorded on the FAO Income for Previous Year (FIPY) screen that was provided in the current financial year but applies to the relevant financial year. For non-taxable pension/benefit, this mode is used only where the estimate is higher than the actual amount known to be paid
• Most Recent Estimate (MRE). The latest estimate recorded for the income component up to the end of that financial year on ongoing income screens (that is, FAO Taxable Income screen). For non-taxable pension/benefit, 'MRE' is the mode used only where the estimate is higher than the actual amount known to be paid
• Centrelink Actual (CAI). The actual amount of non-taxable pension/benefit paid to the customer from Tax Cluster details, where this amount is higher than the estimate recorded on the FIPY screen or ongoing income screens
• Estimates as Provided (EAP). During partial reconciliation for the ex-partner period only, EAP is used for the customer and the ex-partner. Each estimate is applied from the date of event recorded for the estimate. Adequate income is used for other periods (for example, customer actual income). EAP may also be used in an interim or final reconciliation, where it is the more favourable income in the ex-partner income comparison. See Previous partners and Family Tax Benefit (FTB) reconciliation
• Ex-Partner No Estimate (XNE) is used where there is no estimate recorded for the ex-partner. CCB is limited to the zero rate for the ex-partner period

• For any periods the customer was partnered, adjusted taxable income for that period is the sum of the customer's and partner's income
• Periods during which a customer or their partner received income support will not be income reconciled. However, any adjustments resulting from the reconciliation of attendance during the period will be calculated
• Income support periods: If the system cannot be updated to reflect the correct income support periods (for example, change to date of retrospective cancellation after review), as a last resort the FAO Income Support Override (FISPO) screen can be used to record the correct periods to ensure a correct reconciliation and lump sum claim result. Access is restricted to specified staff in Smart Centre Processing
• Customers are subject to the income test for periods during which their income support was suspended
• If a customer receives Special Child Care Benefit (SCCB) or Grandparent Child Care Benefit (GCCB) for any period(s) during the relevant financial year, reconciliation will not be performed for those periods

Manual adjustments which are applied to the reconciliation result by Manual Intervention Team (MIV) will be displayed. Where the CCB reconciliation result has been manually adjusted, the adjusted CCB entitlement amount will be higher if the adjustment was positive or lower if the adjustment was negative.

When reconciliation of Child Care Benefit (CCB) for approved care (CCF) occurs and the result is a negative amount (that is, the customer was overpaid), in some circumstances a CCF Special Adjustment is applied in the CCB and in the CCR calculation.

From the 2013-14 financial year, CCF Special Adjustments no longer occur for periods where the customer or their partner were in receipt of an income support payment.

For 2000-01 to 2012-13 financial years, these amounts are displayed as a CCF special adjustment, but in June 2016 the Department waived these amounts under Section 97(1) of the Family Assistance (Administration) Act 1999.

For 2000-01 and 2001-02 financial years, for weeks where the customer was partnered during the relevant income year but was not partnered to that person as at 30 June, that is they had an ex-partner. From 2002-03 and onwards changes in the reconciliation process means overpayments for ex-partner periods no longer occur. For more information, see Previous partners and Family Tax Benefit (FTB) reconciliation.

If the system did not suppress a debt for an income support period, refer the customer record to Technical Support for further investigation. They will refer the issue to ICT via mySupport if further action is required. Manual adjustment is not needed. See the Resources page for a link to mySupport.

Special rules apply for ex-partners to ensure customers are not disadvantaged. CCB reconciliation uses the same rules as Family Tax Benefit (FTB) reconciliation for ex-partners.

Actual income of a deceased partner is converted to an annualised actual income amount so the annual income test can be applied.

See Previous partners and Family Tax Benefit (FTB) reconciliation.

When a customer dies during the relevant financial year, the reconciliation process remains the same except:

• If a tax return is required to be lodged for the customer, it will be lodged by the Estate
• The customer's actual income is converted to an annualised actual income amount so the annual income test can be applied

A Manual Follow-up (MFU) will be created to issue a manual letter to the estate after reconciliation or re-reconciliation has occurred.

Fee reduction customers

CCB reconciliation will not recheck a customer's eligibility for periods a child is marked as not meeting CCB immunisation requirements.

A customer is deemed to qualify for CCB when:

• the child meets CCB immunisation requirements
• CCB for the child is in an immunisation grace period
• a CCB immunisation override has been recorded

Lump sum customers

A child needs to meet the immunisation requirements as at the Date of Receipt (DOR) of the lump sum claim for CCB purposes. There is no requirement to check immunisation status for the periods of attendance.

For both instalment and lump sum customers

A child's immunisation status is obtained from the Australian Immunisation Register (AIR) once the child's record is linked. Customers are not required to provide further documentary evidence of a child's immunisation status.

2015-16 CCB immunisation reconciliation impacts

The ‘No Jab, No Pay’ measure resulted in a greater than anticipated demand for vaccinations, putting pressure on state and territories processing these records. To ensure that customers who had made efforts to meet the immunisation requirements were not financially disadvantaged, CCB customers who had a transition immunisation grace period with an end date on or between 18 March 2016 and 30 April 2016 were paid conditional Child Care entitlements until 30 April 2016.

If the CCB child continued to not meet the immunisation requirements when reconciliation occurred for the 2015-16 year, a debt was raised for any conditional payments of CCB or CCR that were made between 18 March and 30 April 2016..

If a customer disputes a reconciliation decision, the customer must be provided with an explanation of the decision. CCB customers have the right to request a review of decision.

Adjustments are made automatically. For example, if the service was unable to pass on the CCB fee reduction to the customer, any amounts already paid will not be factored into the reconciliation result.

If the customer's reconciliation result is incorrect:

• Due to an administrative error, check whether the account can be partially or fully waived under Administrative error waivers. Manual adjustment of the reconciliation result may not be needed
• Due to a system problem/issue, details of the customer's record must be referred to Technical Support for further investigation. They will refer the issue ICT via mySupport if further action is required. Manual adjustment is not needed. See the Resources page for a link to mySupport
• Due to inaccurate customer details on the system, correcting the customer's details will generate re-reconciliation. Manual adjustment is not needed
• Due to a known system limitation that can cause a CCF reduced fees claim for an ‘additional child’ to pay CCB and/or CCR for 1 or more years prior to the last financial year for periods the customer was in receipt of CCF as reduced fees for another child. For this to occur all of the following must occur:
• The customer has been assessed for part or all of the prior financial year/s as a reduced fee (instalment) customer
• The customer lodges and is granted a CCF reduced fees claim in the current financial for an ‘additional’ child, and
• Services Australia has attendance recorded for the ‘additional’ child for the past financial year/s for the periods the customer was in receipt of CCF as reduced fees. In this circumstance the system recognises the periods in the previous financial years as ‘instalment’ periods and may pay arrears for the ‘additional’ child for those periods. If the customer has provided verbal confirmation they wish to claim as a lump sum for the most recent financial year, the arrears for that year are payable. The arrears for any year prior to the last financial year are not payable. The relevant Act reference to not pay the arrears is Section 49J of the Family Assistance (Administration) Act
• And cannot be corrected by updating details on the customer's record, the result must be manually adjusted on the FAO Reconciliation Manual Adjustment (FRMA) screen. For any CCR adjustments the Childcare Rebate Manual Adjustment (CRMA) screen is updated

To have the reconciliation result manually adjusted on the FRMA/CRMA screen

• First ensure the reconciliation result has been internally reviewed as appropriate and/or the Administrative Review Tribunal (ART)
• Use Fast Note - select Auto text > Families > Reconciliation > ACTDOC Manual Correction on FRMA include all the following details:
• Customer Reference Number (CRN)
• customer name
• partner name
• relevant income year
• service reason (CCF/FTB)
• the date and activity number (AMR) of the reconciliation result that needs to be changed
• the full reason why the reconciliation result needs to be adjusted (including relevant sections of the Act)
• date of DOC completed by review officer/Legal Services Officer
• full manual calculations for the new entitlement (period by period)
• new total adjustment amount
• the contact details of the requesting officer

The MIV team will check the activity result, making any required updates and contact the original Service Officer via MS Teams or email requesting the activity be finalised.

If the customer/partner circumstances are not correctly reflected on the system, the activity will not be actioned and referred back for correction. Note: if the adjustment is due to the ‘additional child’ issue above the calculations are not required and it should be noted arrears are outside allowable timeframe and the above Act reference quoted/documented.

In all cases, DOC the customer's record.