Non-cash maintenance income assessment for Family Tax Benefit (FTB) 277-51100000

There is a wide range of non-cash benefits that can be assessed as maintenance income. The paying parent can purchase items or pay expenses that would benefit the child, directly or indirectly, for example, spousal maintenance. Not all non-cash benefits received can be assessed as maintenance income.

Things to consider before assessing or recording the value of non-cash benefit as maintenance income:

• Is it exempt maintenance income?
• Does it actually benefit the child or person, improving their lives in some way?
• Is there a need to assess or record the maintenance income?

Maintenance over $1,500 value received as a one-off lump sum or as a transfer of an asset is treated separately. This is known as capitalised maintenance.

Child Support Agreements with a start date of 1 July 2008 or later are no longer manually assessed or coded by Centrelink staff. They are assessed by Child Support.

For agreements with a start date before 1 July 2008, any non-cash maintenance must be manually recorded on the Centrelink system for the period up to and including 30 June 2008. For agreements that were in place before 1 July 2008 that have been accepted by Child Support and transitioned under the Child Support Scheme Reforms from 1 July 2008, non-cash maintenance previously coded on the Centrelink system is maintained by Centrelink.