Single Income Family Supplement (SIFS) 007-10010000

See the Resources page for a SIFS Ready Reckoner based on the taxable income of the customer (and their partner).

Did the customer/ partner receive (or are they entitled to) Family Tax Benefit (FTB) for the full financial year?

• Yes,
• For FTB instalment customers, any SIFS entitlement for the FTB period is calculated during FTB reconciliation. Grandfathering provisions apply from 1 July 2017
• If they intend to claim FTB for the previous financial year, families can claim as lump sum. Any SIFS entitlement for the period they are entitled to FTB will be calculated when their claim is assessed
• No, for any period in the financial year they are not entitled to FTB but had a qualifying child for SIFS they will need to lodge a claim for SIFS. SIFS is not payable to claimants from 1 July 2017, unless they meet grandfathering provisions

SIFS is paid to existing eligible customers for the 2017-18 and later financial years if they meet the following grandfathering provisions:

• They were eligible for and received SIFS at a legislative rate greater than nil in respect of 30 June 2017. Customers are included as being 'in receipt of SIFS' if their SIFS payment is:
• paid to a third party on their behalf (for example, a nominee), or
• used to offset an overpayment
• A customer can become grandfathered if they were initially not entitled to SIFS, but as a result of a reassessment, they are found to be eligible for and received SIFS at a legislative rate greater than nil in respect of 30 June 2017

Continuing grandfathered status

Grandfathered status for a customer will continue provided they remain eligible for and are paid SIFS continuously from 1 July 2017, that is for each day in the entitlement year.

Separated couples

• If a couple separates and does not split SIFS for a past period that includes 30 June 2017, only the individual who received SIFS in respect of 30 June 2017 will be grandfathered for SIFS. The ex-partner will not be grandfathered and will not be eligible for SIFS from 1 July 2017
• Both members of a couple in a blended family who split SIFS in respect of 30 June 2017 will be grandfathered, even if they separate, until the first day they do not meet the SIFS eligibility requirements
• Unless both members of a blended family are grandfathered for SIFS, they cannot receive SIFS as a blended family. Where only one member of the blended family is grandfathered, that person will receive the full SIFS entitlement, until the first day they do not meet the SIFS eligibility requirements
• A grandfathered status cannot be transferred from one person to another

Loss of grandfathered status

A customer's grandfathered status will be lost if there is a break in eligibility for SIFS from 1 July 2017.

Examples of a break in eligibility:

• after reconciliation has occurred, a customer is found to have no entitlement to SIFS on or after 1 July 2017
• there is a change in care arrangements, resulting in the customer no longer having a qualifying child in their care
• there is a change in marital status, resulting in the family no longer being eligible under the income test
• a customer/child is overseas for more than 6 weeks
• a customer's last SIFS eligible child dies. Grandfathering status ceases the day after the 14 week bereavement period
• a grandfathered customer dies. Note: if another claimant is paid their SIFS entitlement, the claimant does not retain the deceased customer's grandfathered status

Family Tax Benefit (FTB) customers

SIFS entitlement is calculated automatically for 2012-13 and subsequent financial years when FTB reconciliation occurs or an FTB lump sum claim is assessed for the relevant financial year.

SIFS only claims

Benefit status will be FTB/CAN-SIF if SIFS has been paid.

For FTB customers and SIFS only claims

Go to the customer's record.

Select Workspace> Families Benefits> FTB and CCB reconciliation.

• Click on the AMR field for the FTB Reco Completed line for the relevant reconciliation year
• The FTB Reconciliation Completed Summary page displays the overall result for all FTB components including SIFS, or for a SIFS only claim. For further detail:
• Select FTB Calculation Result field to view details for all periods in the financial year
• Click on the left twisty for a period to view full assessment details for the period and further options. For example, select FTB Child Eligibility Summary option shows whether a child was assessed as eligible or not for each FTB component or for a SIFS only claim

Per FTB reconciliation rules, SIFS entitlement can be used to offset an overpayment or an outstanding debt.

For more information about viewing FTB details, see Customer enquires about FTB reconciliation or lump sum claim.

A person is eligible for SIFS for an entitlement year if they:

• Had at least one qualifying child (FTB child or SIFS only child)
• Meet income requirements. Note: the SIFS income test is based on taxable income, not adjusted taxable income (ATI) used for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A and Part B
• Primary earner's taxable income was more than $68,000 and less than $150,000
• Secondary earner's taxable income was less than $18,000 (this only applies to partnered customers and only if the primary earner income tested rate is more than nil)
  Note: there may be instances where the primary and secondary earner's taxable income is within the income limits, however the rate of SIFS may be nil due to tapering
• Meet residence requirements as for FTB
• Meet claim requirements (non-FTB customers)
• Meet grandfathering provisions (for the 2017-18 and later financial years)

Only one member of a couple can be paid SIFS except for blended families, and separated couples claiming for a past period (as for FTB).

Family assistance customers with special circumstances preventing them from meeting certain family assistance requirements within the one year timeframe may be granted an extension of time to meet the requirement.

A decision about a special circumstances claim lodgement extension cannot be made until the customer has lodged their SIFS claim for the relevant financial year.

For further information, see Assessing special circumstances extensions for families unable to meet lodgement and other specific requirements for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and Single Income Family Supplement (SIFS).

SIFS cannot be paid until adequate income details are available for the customer and their partner/ex-partner.

For SIFS, adequate income means:

• accepted ‘not required to lodge advice’ and a customer provided financial year income estimate
• actual taxable income details provided by the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) if the person is required to lodge a tax return

If the customer and their partner/ex-partner complete an ATO ‘Return Not Necessary’ (RNN) advice with the ATO, SIFS eligibility will not be assessed until:

• a financial year income estimate is provided by the customer, and
• it is coded on the FAO Income Previous year (FIPY) screen

Note: only taxable income (TI) is used to assess SIFS, not adjusted taxable income (ATI).

Shared care does not affect the SIFS rate, but customers must have at least 35% care of a child to be eligible (as for Family Tax Benefit (FTB))

A qualifying child for SIFS can be either:

• an FTB child or
• a SIFS only child, where they would be an FTB child except that they were:
• aged 16-20 receiving Disability Support Pension (DSP) as a dependent living at the parental home
• receiving at home rate of Youth Allowance (YA)
• receiving Special Benefit (at home YA rate)
• aged 16-20 receiving ABSTUDY as a dependent student, including an amount of Living Allowance at the at home rate, or
• aged 16 or older receiving (or someone is receiving it on their behalf) an education allowance paid under the Veterans' Children Education Scheme or the Military Rehabilitation and Compensation Act Education and Training Scheme

The portability rules for SIFS are the same as for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) (without portability extension rules).

During a customer's temporary absence overseas, SIFS entitlement ceases after 6 weeks.

The customer loses their grandfathered status if they or their child are overseas for more than 6 weeks.

SIFS is subject to the same Family Tax Benefit (FTB), Child Care Subsidy (CCS) and Paid Parental Leave scheme customer/child going overseas.

If a qualifying child is temporarily overseas (but not the customer), SIFS will be affected as above only if the customer has no other qualifying child.

The SIFS bereavement rules are the same as for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

Entitlement to SIFS can continue for 14 weeks after the death of the last qualifying child, up until:

• the day the child would have turned 19 if studying full time, or
• the day they would have turned 18 otherwise

If a young person aged 20-24 died within 14 weeks of 31 December 2012, SIFS entitlement would end on 31 December 2012 due the change in FTB child eligibility rules on 1 January 2013.

If the bereavement period spans financial years, a SIFS claim is not required for the second year.

SIFS grandfathering status ceases the day after the 14 week bereavement period if that child is the last SIFS eligible child in the customer's care.

Shared care does not affect the SIFS rate, but customers must have at least 35% care of a child to be eligible (as for Family Tax Benefit (FTB)).

Step 1

If the primary earner's taxable income (whole dollars only) is:

• $68,001-$80,000, SIFS rate = (primary income - 68,000) x $0.025
• $80,001-$120,000, SIFS rate = $300
• above $120,000, SIFS rate = $300 less (primary income - 120,000) x $0.01

Step 2

• If the customer is a member of a couple and the secondary earner's taxable income is above $16,000, SIFS rate = amount from Step 1 less
  (secondary income - 16,000) x $0.15
• Otherwise, SIFS rate = amount from Step 1

Step 3

Where both members of a blended family meet all SIFS eligibility requirements, apply blended family percentages to work out the annual SIFS rate for each member of the couple.

If only one member of the blended family meets all SIFS eligibility requirements, apply 100% entitlement.

Step 4

Daily rate (provisional component) = annual rate/365. This number is then rounded up to the nearest whole cent.

For FTB customers, their full daily FTB rate (including Part A and Part B) is calculated before rounding.

The maximum daily rate = $0.83.

Step 5

Multiply the daily rate by the number of days in the year it applies. Add amounts for all entitlement periods.

Total annual SIFS payment cannot exceed $302.95.

If a decision to pay SIFS is later changed or corrected, SIFS will be raised as an overpayment for the relevant period(s).

Any overpayment will be calculated within the re-reconciliation process.

Debt offsetting

Per FTB reconciliation rules, SIFS entitlement can be used to offset a family assistance overpayment or an outstanding debt.

SIFS review and appeal provisions are the same as those that apply for Family Tax Benefit (FTB).

See Initial contact about a decision and the review of decision process.

• SIFS is not taxable income
• SIFS is not assessed as income under social security law, family assistance law or veterans' affairs law
• SIFS is not subject to Income Management
• SIFS cannot be used for Centrepay deductions