Maintenance reconciliation for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) 277-51190000

Maintenance reconciliation occurs automatically as part of FTB reconciliation after the end of the relevant financial year. Re-reconciliation may automatically occur if a child support assessment for a private collect customer is retrospectively increased or decreased by Child Support.

For customers claiming FTB as a lump sum at the end of the financial year, go to Step 7.

For customers who have received FTB instalments during the relevant financial year, is the customer entitled to more than the base rate FTB Part A after income reconciliation?

• Yes, go to Step 2
• No, maintenance reconciliation is not needed as the Maintenance Income Test and Maintenance Action Tests cannot reduce FTB Part A rate below base rate. Procedure ends here

• Uses information provided by the customer and Child Support on the customer's record
• Uses the actual dates of child support changes during the previous year
• Applies the Maintenance Action Test (MAT) to limit Part A to base rate for a child support child for any period appropriate action to obtain child support was not taken
• Applies the Maintenance Income Test (MIT) using the recalculated annualised maintenance income of the customer

Customers with a blind pensioner exemption are exempt from maintenance reconciliation. They are exempt from MAT and MIT.

Is the customer exempt due to blind pensioner exemption?

• Yes, procedure ends here
• No, go to Step 3

• MAT is met (more than base rate FTB Part A payable for child if customer entitled) for any period where the MAT code is:
• DMA - Deciding Maintenance Action (up to 91 days)
• APP/CAC - Child Support application for assessment/collection pending
• Any other MAT met or MAT exempt codes. See MAT codes. For more information about exemptions, see Exemptions from seeking child support for FTB customers
• MAT is failed for periods where child support action was required but not taken. Part A will be limited to the base rate for the relevant child support child for that period

Note: before 1 July 2012, where the actual child support amount recorded was less than the child support entitlement and no exemption applied, the customer would fail the MAT and would be limited to the base rate for the relevant child support child for that period. For details, see FTB customer not receiving full child support entitlement privately.

The system recalculates annualised maintenance income of the customer, including:

• For periods of Child Support collection
  All disbursements advised by Child Support, non-agency payments, plus any voluntary maintenance, non cash maintenance and capitalised maintenance recorded. From 1 July 2007, Child Support collect customers may benefit from the Maintenance Income Credit (MIC)
• For periods of private collection
  Either the child support entitlement amount advised by Child Support, or the actual amount advised by the customer (for periods before 1 July 2012 only), plus any Child Support disbursements, voluntary maintenance, discharged child support arrears, non cash maintenance and capitalised maintenance recorded

For customers with a child support agreement, the Notional Assessment is used if there is one in place. See MIT for FTB.

For examples of maintenance reconciliation calculations, see:

• Entitlement Method or
• Disbursement Method

View maintenance reconciliation results for a financial year from the FAO Lump Sum & Reco Maint Summary (LRMS) screen by typing 'M' next to the relevant line on the FAO Reconciliation & Claim Summary (FRCS) screen.

For more information, see FTB lump sum and reconciliation calculation screens.

• To view MIC calculation details, code 'M' next to an assessment period on the LRMS screen to go to the MIC Reco Adjustment (LRMJ) screen. For more information, see Maintenance Income Credit (MIC)

FTB re-reconciliation will occur automatically if child support details for the relevant financial year are updated.

If a private collect customer advises after the end of the financial year that they received less than their full child support entitlement for a period prior to 1 July 2012, the actual amount received for that period should be recorded on the Override Maintenance Income (MNOI) screen.

This may mean that the customer fails the Maintenance Action Test (MAT) for the period before 1 July 2012.

See Amending maintenance income details on the MNOI screen.

For action the customer may need to take, see Customer not receiving full child support entitlement privately.

If a retrospective assessment is received from Child Support, customers will have their FTB reassessed based on the new assessment details. If this impacts in the:

• 2011-12 financial year, the customer may advise that they are unable to collect any arrears owed (as a result of the assessment amount increasing) therefore the non paid arrears may be taken out of the FTB assessment for the period the customer was privately collecting their child support. See Retrospective Child Support assessments and FTB
• 2012-13 financial year onwards, the non paid arrears amount cannot be taken out of the FTB assessment for the period the customer was privately collecting their child support. This is because customers who privately collect their child support will be deemed to be receiving their full child support assessed amount regardless of the actual amount being collected for FTB purposes. The customer can apply for a formal review of their FTB debt with Centrelink. However, if they want the decision to be reviewed due to the retrospective increase to their child support assessment they will need to contact Child Support

Procedure ends here.

From 2011-12 onwards, all claims will be assessed using information from Child Support. Customers can no longer self-assess their child support. If the customer indicates they have not taken action to obtain child support, and has not given a reason to indicate an exemption may be applicable, they fail the MAT for the relevant child/ren for the financial year. See Recording child support details for a previous year FTB claim for more information.

Before 2011-12, customers self-assessed maintenance details as part of their FTB lump sum claim and these details were recorded on the maintenance screens for a previous year FTB claim:

• FAO Mtce Previous Year Selections (FMPYS) screen
• FAO Mtce Previous Year details (FMPYD) screen
• Child Maintenance Previous Year (CHMPY) screen

See also FTB lump sum and reconciliation screens.

From 2008-09 until 2010-11, customers claiming FTB via a lump sum claim were able to give Centrelink permission to obtain their child support details from Child Support rather than the customer self-assessing.

Claims lodged with ATO before 1 July 2009: maintenance details provided on the ATO FTB Lump Sum Claim are transferred from the ATO and displayed on the ATO lump sum FTB claim screens:

• ATO Maintenance Income Details (ATOMID) screen
• ATO Dependent Details (ATODDS) screen

Note: information on these screens cannot be given to the customer's partner.