Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part B quarantine and lump sum claims 007-11010070

FTB Part B may be paid free of the income test for partnered customers if the lower earner in the family has returned to work during the relevant financial year for the first time since the birth of a child or since a child entered their care.

FTB Part B is not payable for 2008-09 and following years if the primary earner's adjusted taxable income exceeds the Part B primary earner income limit, except for income support periods.

Customers should advise return to work details on the FTB lump sum claim form. To benefit from this assistance, customers claiming FTB as a lump sum for the financial year in which the return to work occurred may notify or update return to work details up until 30 June of the lodgement year or the FTB claim lodgement special circumstances extension end date. For the 2011-12 financial year or earlier years, FTB lump sum customers had until the end of the extended lodgement year to notify or update return to work details.

If the return to work details are updated by the customer after this time, for example to amend the date of the return to work, the rules that apply for a request for a review of the lump sum claim decision determine whether their FTB Part B entitlement is reassessed.

The customer's eligibility for this assistance will be assessed when the lump sum claim is finalised, based on return to work details on the customer's record. Where eligible, the customer's FTB Part B rate will not be income tested for the Part B quarantine period, regardless of the income of the lower earner.

Customers who advise a return to self-employment or who are nominating a return to work of less than 10 hours per week when they lodge their FTB lump sum claim are not required to provide separate verification. The lump sum claim form is written verification.

Eligibility for the FTB Part B quarantine period is displayed on the reconciliation/lump sum claim screens.

A letter is sent to the customer following the assessment of the lump sum claim for the relevant financial year. The letter will advise:

• whether or not the FTB Part B quarantine period has been applied
• if the customer is not eligible, the reason