Recording child support details for a previous year Family Tax Benefit (FTB) claim in Customer First 277-51070020

If a customer provides child support details on their Family Tax Benefit (FTB) lump sum claim for a previous financial year, the details are recorded on separate screens to those used for FTB claims for the current year. Child support details are used to calculate a customer's rate of FTB Part A for children for whom child support action is required.

From the 2011-12 financial year onwards, all details relating to child support will be transferred electronically via the Child Support Data Exchange process.

For FTB claims for 2008-09 through to 2010-11, customers could choose to self-assess child support details, or to give permission to Centrelink to obtain child support details directly from Child Support electronically.

Information recorded on the lump sum claim screens does not affect instalment payments in the current year. If the customer is claiming instalment payments for the current year as well as a lump sum for a previous year, then both sets of child support screens need to be recorded.

If there is existing child support data for the previous financial year because the customer has received instalment payments for part of the year and then lodges a lump sum claim for another period of that same year, the lump sum claim child support details will be used to reconcile the instalment period. The information recorded on these screens is not to be used to assess ongoing FTB entitlement as it is a self-assessment by the customer.

Information on these screens may be updated if the customer provides extra information after lodging the claim. Any change will result in a reassessment of the claim if it has already been finalised.

Child support details provided by the customer for their FTB lump sum claim are recorded by selecting the Maintenance Details Selection (FMPYS) screen.

• For the financial years 2008-09 through until 2010-11, child support details were recorded via the Maint LSC Group Summary (MLGS) screen after adding the payer group and linking children to the group.
• For earlier years, child support income details are recorded on the Maintenance Recipient Details (FMPYD) screen and child support action on the Child Maintenance Previous Year (CHMPY) screen.

From 1 July 2008, if parents share the care of a child or if each has one or more children in care, Child Support registers only one child support case instead of two. The system will only establish an electronic link with one Centrelink customer (generally the child support payee) at the time the link is established. This means that information will not be received electronically from Child Support to show that the other party (generally the payer) has met the Maintenance Action Test (MAT).

In these cases, additional coding is required to ensure that the customer is recognised as meeting the MAT and the customer must self-assess rather than match with Child Support.

For FTB lump sum claims for 2010-11 onwards, the claim will remain pending if adequate care details are not available for customers who advise they (or their partner) had a child support assessment during the relevant year for a child they are claiming FTB for. Care assessment data from Child Support is used for any child support assessment period.

Child support details provided on an FTB lump sum claim lodged with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) before 1 July 2009 are recorded on separate ATO claim screens.