Foreign pension coding 106-08030000

Frequently asked questions about the Foreign Pension script

Table 1

Item	Description
1	What can the script do? The script can: record a new grant of foreign pension correct an existing record record an historical reassessment of an existing record transfer an existing record to a new payment type (for example, INV to AGE) process a foreign pension Consumer Price Index (CPI) review when one falls due
2	What letters are sent and in which circumstances? There are three situations where the script may issue a letter. When processing a 'Due' CPI review. The user may choose to follow up the new rate of foreign pension by having the script issue a letter If the information being used to code the foreign pension is not from an 'official' source. In this case the script will allow the update of the foreign pension but a letter will be issued asking the customer to provide their latest foreign pension certificate or statement If the currency of payment of the foreign pension is not considered an official currency for the country in question. In this case the script will allow the update of the foreign pension but a letter will be issued asking the customer to provide their latest foreign pension certificate or statement showing how much they get paid in the currency in which it is paid
3	What are all of these activities generated by the script? The script is controlled by Online Document Recording (ODR) DOCs and Manual Follow-ups (MFU). For each foreign pension to be added an ODR DOC and an MFU are created. The script is set up in such a way that if the update action fails, but the MFU remains on the record, the script can be re-run once the issue causing the failure is resolved. It will then 'read' the DOC and complete any outstanding coding.
4	How are problems to be reported? If the script fails for any reason, Service Officers should report the failure through normal system support protocols. If an error message is displayed, then it should be included in (pasted into) the referral if possible. Any issues relating to Policy or the Business Rules applied by the script should be sent to the International Program.

Determining the date of event to use for foreign pension coding

Table 2

Item	Description
1	Foreign lump sums Different rules apply for lump sums arrears of foreign pension representing periods in the past, see Comparable foreign payment lump sum arrears debts. The deemed date of event rules apply to all assessable foreign lump sums. In these cases, the date the customer received the lump sum is used as FRPD. However, foreign lump sums that are not considered to be a foreign pension, for example, lump sum refunds of contributions, are coded differently, see Treatment of lump sums.
2	Legend DOP = Date of Print of the foreign pension notice. DOI = Date of Issue of the foreign pension notice. DOCR = Date of Customer Receipt of the foreign pension notice. FRPD = Date of receipt of first ongoing payment of the customer's ongoing regular pension payments (that is, not an arrears payment) or the date the non-arrears lump sum was received. DOR = Date of Receipt in Services Australia. DOV = Actual Date of Event, that is, date of grant, date of the change in rate or date lump sum received. APSD = Arrears Period Start Date. APED = Arrears Period End Date. BPED = Bereavement Period End Date.
3	Date of event The date of event used for coding takes into account if Services Australia was advised of the event within the customer's notification period. The date the customer became aware of the event must first be determined and is then compared to the DOR. The date the customer became aware of the event is taken to be the earlier of the DOCR or FRPD. The general rule is, if the DOR is: outside the customer's notification period - the DOV is used within the customer's notification period - the earlier of the DOCR and the FRPD is used The exceptions to this are if: arrears are paid - the date coded cannot be on or before the APED a customer is granted a foreign pension as a survivor or receives an increased rate due to the death of their partner - the date coded cannot be on or before the BPED
4	Date of effect Once the deemed date of event is coded, the date of effect of any rate reductions will also depend on the date the information is processed and if the customer has been paid since the date of event that is coded, see Using the correct date of effect when raising debts. Notes: Small rate variations, such as regular increases for cost-of-living (CPI), are generally invisible to customers as they already receive irregular foreign pension payments due to the different exchange rates used to convert the foreign currency each time a payment is made. In these cases, the FRPD is ignored If the DOCR is unknown, a deemed date may be derived by adding 10 days to either the DOI or, where unknown, the DOP. If day 10 falls on a weekend or public holiday, an extra day is added. The adding of an extra day continues until the deemed DOCR falls on a working day in Hobart. For example, if notice dated 1 January, assume customer received advice 11 January Some countries (for example, Italy) may stockpile letters so discretion should be used when deciding when the customer should have received the letter

Examples of date of event to use for foreign pension coding

Table 3

Note: this table uses historical dates when Services Australia was the Department of Human Services or Human Services.

Item	Description
1	Future date of event (DOV) Example French pension authorities issued a notice dated 1 October 2013 (DOP) to a customer in Australia. The date of issue of the notice (DOI) is unknown. The notice indicated grant of French Old Age Pension effective from 1 January 2014 (DOV) but the first regular payment would be 20 January 2014 (FRPD) and no arrears were payable. Customer received notice on 20 October 2013 (DOCR) but only notified Human Services on 1 December 2013 (DOR). Result French AGE coded from 1 January 2014 (DOV). No contravention debt exists. No arrears debt exists. Explanation DOCR is earlier than FRPD so is compared to the DOR. The customer failed to declare the event within the notification period (14 days). DOV is used but future date means no contravention debt.
2	Use of arrears period end date (APED) Example Chinese pension authorities issued a notice dated 1 September 2013 (DOP) to a customer in China. The date of issue of the notice (DOI) is unknown. The notice indicated grant of Chinese Old Age Pension effective from 1 January 2013 (DOV) but the first regular payment would be 20 October 2013 (FRPD) and arrears for the period 1 January 2013 (APSD) to 30 September 2013 (BPED) were payable. On review, Human Services first found out about the event on 1 March 2014 (DOR). Customer stated they did not recall when they received the notice (DOCR). Result Chinese AGE coded from 1 October 2013 (APED + 1). A contravention debt exists from 1 October 2013. Arrears debt exists for the period 1 January 2013 to 30 September 2013. Explanation DOCR and DOI are unknown and DOP + 10 days is earlier than FRPD so is compared to DOR. The customer failed to declare the event within the notification period (28 days). DOV would normally apply but APED +1 is used as cannot be earlier than this date.
3	Use of first ongoing payment (FRPD) Example Swedish pension authorities issued an undated notice to a customer in Australia. The date of issue (DOI) of the notice is unknown. The notice indicated grant of Swedish Old Age Pension effective from 1 March 2013 (DOV) but the first regular payment would be 20 November 2013 (FRPD) and arrears were payable for the period 1 March 2013 to 31 October 2013. Customer notified Human Services on 1 December 2013 (DOR) but stated they did not recall when they received the notice (DOCR). Result Swedish AGE coded from 20 November 2013 (FRPD). No contravention debt exists. Arrears debt exists for the period 1 March 2013 to 31 October 2013. Explanation DOCR, DOP and DOI are unknown so FRPD is used which is compared to DOR. The customer declared the event within the notification period (14 days). FRPD is used.
4	Use of date of receipt (DOR) Example Human Services received a liaison from Maltese pension authorities on 11 August 2013 (DOR). The notice indicated grant of Maltese Invalidity Pension effective from 1 February 2013 (DOV) but the first regular payment would be 20 August 2013 (FRPD). Arrears were payable but no period was specified. Result Maltese INV is coded from 11 August 2013 (DOR). No contravention debt exists. Arrears debt exists for the period 1 February 2013 to 31 July 2013. Note: unknown APED may be deemed to be end of month before DOR, see Comparable foreign payment lump sum arrears debts. Explanation DOCR is unknown so FRPD is compared to DOR. DOR is earlier than FRPD. DOR is used.
5	Use of date of customer receipt (DOCR) Example Norwegian pension authorities issued a notice dated 10 July 2013 (DOP) to a customer in Australia. The date of issue of the notice (DOI) is unknown. The notice indicated increased rate of Norwegian Old Age Pension effective from 1 May 2013 (DOV) but the first regular payment would be 20 July 2013 (FRPD). Arrears were payable but no period was specified. Customer received notice on 15 July 2013 (DOCR) and notified Human Services on 20 July 2013 (DOR). Result Norwegian AGE increase is coded from 15 July 2013 (DOCR). No contravention debt exists. No arrears debt exists. Note: arrears debts that may exist as a result of small back-payment of regular increases in foreign pensions are too small to be recovered and investigation is not cost effective, see Comparable foreign payment lump sum arrears debts. Explanation FRPD is ignored for small rate increases so DOCR is compared to DOR. The customer declared the event within the notification period (14 days). DOCR is used.
6	Use of date of event (DOV) - failed to notify Example Italian pension authorities issued a notice with no date (DOP) to a customer in Australia. The date of issue of the notice (DOI) is unknown. The notice indicated increased rate of Italian Old Age Pension effective from 1 January 2014 (DOV) but the first regular payment would be 20 January 2014 (FRPD). No arrears were payable. Customer received notice on 15 April 2014 (DOCR) but only notified Human Services on 5 June 2013 (DOR). Result Italian AGE increase is coded from 1 January 2014 (DOCR). A contravention debt exists from 1 January 2014. No arrears debt exists. Explanation FRPD is ignored for small rate increases so DOCR is compared to DOR. The customer failed to declare the event within the notification period (14 days). DOV is used.
7	Use of bereavement period end date (BPED) Example Customer's partner date of death was 10 July 2013. Human Services received a liaison from Austrian pension authorities on 10 September 2013 (DOR). The notice indicated grant of Austrian Survivor Pension effective from 10 July 2013 (DOV) but the first regular payment would be 25 September 2013 (FRPD). Arrears were payable for the period 10 July 2013 to 30 August 2013. Result Austrian SUR coded from 17 October 2013 (BPED + 1). No contravention debt exists. No arrears debt exists. Explanation DOCR is unknown so FRPD is compared to DOR. DOR is earlier than FRPD. DOR would normally apply but BPED +1 is used as cannot be earlier than this date.
8	Lump sum date of event (DOV) Example Human Services received a liaison from Swiss pension authorities on 15 February 2014 (DOR). The notice indicated grant of Swiss Old Age Pension but that a lump sum in lieu of the small rate would be paid on 10 March 2014 (FRPD). Result Lump sum coded as Swiss 'AGE' from 10 March 2014 (DOV). No contravention debt exists. No arrears debt exists. Note: lump sum assessable for 12 months from date received. Manual review set for 10 March 2015 to remove Swiss AGE from assessment. Explanation DOCR is unknown so FRPD is compared to DOR. DOR is earlier than FRPD. DOV is used. Note: DOV for lump sums is taken to be date received by the customer, that is, start of assessable period.
9	Lump sum date of event (DOV) - failed to notify Example Korean pension authorities issued undated notice to customer in Korea. The date of issue (DOI) of the notice is unknown. The notice indicated grant of lump sum refund of contributions to be paid on 20 August 2013 (FRPD). On review, Human Services first found out about the event on 1 March 2014 (DOR). Customer stated they did not recall when they received the notice (DOCR). Result Lump sum coded as Korean 'OIN' from 20 August 2013 (DOV). Note: lump sums that are not considered to be foreign pensions are coded on Foreign Income Details (FID) screen). See Treatment of lump sums. A contravention debt exists from 20 August 2013. No arrears debt exists. Note: lump sum assessable for 12 months from date received. Manual review set for 20 August 2014 to remove Korean OIN from assessment. Explanation DOCR, DOP and DOI are unknown so FRPD is used which is compared to DOR. The customer failed to declare the event within the notification period (28 days). DOV is used. Note: DOV for lump sums is taken to be date received by the customer, that is, start of assessable period.

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