Notional assessment relating to child support agreements 277-02020000

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This document outlines information about notional assessments relating to child support agreements including the processes for generating and varying a provisional notional assessment (PNA) and finalising a notional assessment (NA).

Notional Assessments

When Child Support has accepted a child support agreement, in most instances a notional assessment (NA) is made to be used when calculating the Family Tax Benefit Part A (FTB Part A) payable to the customers. The NA represents the child support assessment if there was no agreement in place. NAs apply to all agreements that vary the rate of child support payable and some court orders for non-periodic payments, where the application for acceptance was received by Child Support on or after 1 July 2008.

A notional assessment is applicable if a court has made

a statement under section 125
an order under section 124 for non-periodic payments, that reduce the annual rate of child support payable

A notional assessment is not applicable if the court has made:

a departure order under section 118,
an order under s124 for non-periodic payments that do not reduce the annual rate of child support payable,
an order under section 123A for a lump sum to be credited against the liability payable

To be sure what type of order has been made, see Court varied assessments (CVA) including lump sum orders, and Lump Sum child support.

Before the NA is finalised, a provisional notional assessment (PNA) is generated and the customers are notified in writing. If a parent feels that a PNA does not reflect their circumstances, they may seek a variation of the PNA before it becomes a NA. The PNA becomes a NA 23 days after the PNA is generated if all requests to vary it have been finalised.

A customer may be calling to report a change that affects both their child support assessment and their NA. For example, if an agreement is based on a modified formula assessment, where the agreement increased the assessment by $2000 per annum, an estimate of income may need to be made for the assessment as well as generating a new PNA.

Note: system limitations may result in part of or all of the agreement being recorded as a ‘Stage 1’ liability on the system. The system is not able to continue a Stage 2 Agreement liability for a child if the payee has less than 35% care of that child, even if the child is still covered by the Agreement and the payee is still entitled to receive the Agreement child support.

The Resources page contains links to external websites, Notional assessments examples.

Operational Information

Notional assessment relating to child support agreements 277-02020000

Notional Assessments

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