3.1.1.20 Current FTB rates & income test amounts

Summary

This topic includes:

• FTB Part A standard rates
• FTB Part A supplement
• FTB Part B standard rates
• FTB Part B supplement
• FTB Part B primary income earner limit (1.1.I.45)
• income free area
• higher income free area
• maintenance income free area
• newborn supplement
• newborn upfront payment
• energy supplement, and
• multiple birth allowance.

RA rates and thresholds and the MIFA are covered in the references below.

FTB Part A standard rates (1.1.S.103)

The standard rate of FTB Part A is the maximum annual amount payable for all FTB children based on their age without including the supplements and without applying the maintenance income test or the relevant income test.

The table below shows the current standard rates of FTB Part A per year (not including the supplement).

Note: Conditions apply to the payment of FTB Part A. From 1 July 2018, where a child does not meet the immunisation or health check requirements (2.1.3), the FTB child rate may be reduced for each day during an FTB child rate reduction period (1.1.F.58).

FTB Part A supplement

The FTB Part A supplement is part of the annual rate of FTB Part A for each FTB child. The current maximum FTB Part A supplement is $879.65. The supplement is only available to an individual after the end of the financial year after FTB has been reconciled. Payment of the supplement is conditional on the individual and/or their partner lodging a tax return (if required) or informing Centrelink they are not required to lodge a tax return.

Additional conditions may also apply to the payment of the FTB Part A supplement. For income years prior to 2018-19, entitlement to FTB Part A supplement is conditional on immunisation and heath check requirements being met (8.1.2).

Note: If an individual's ATI (which includes the ATI of their partner if any) is more than $80,000 for the relevant income year, then the individual's FTB Part A supplement in relation to that year will be nil.

Note: The FTB Part A supplement, as well as other FTB top-up payments, may be used to offset an individual's outstanding FTB and/or CCS reconciliation debts and may also be used by the ATO to offset a tax debt. See 7.2.5.

FTB Part B standard rates

The standard rate of FTB Part B is the maximum annual amount payable for a child based on their age without including the supplement and without applying the income test.

The standard rate of FTB Part B is dependent on the individual's family situation. The table below shows the current standard rates of FTB Part B.

Note: The rate of FTB Part B is nil for couple families with a youngest child aged 13 years or older.

FTB Part B supplement

The FTB Part B supplement is part of the maximum rate and base rate of FTB Part B. The current maximum FTB Part B supplement is $430.70 per family. The supplement is only available after the end of the income year after FTB has been reconciled. Payment of the supplement is dependent on an individual and/or their partner lodging a tax return (if required) or informing Centrelink they are not required to lodge a tax return.

Note: The FTB Part B supplement, as well as other FTB top-up payments, may be used to offset an individual's outstanding FTB and/or CCS reconciliation debts and may also be used by the ATO to offset a tax debt. See 7.2.5.

FTB Part B primary earner income limit

To be eligible for FTB Part B a primary income earner (1.1.P.122) must have an ATI (1.1.A.20) of no more than $112,578 per annum. This means, if the primary earner's income is greater than $112,578, the family is no longer eligible to receive FTB Part B. Single parent families with an income of $112,578 or less may be entitled to the maximum rate of FTB Part B.

Income free area (1.1.I.40)

A family with income above the income free area will have their rate of FTB reduced by the income test. The following table shows the income free area per year for FTB Part A and FTB Part B.

Note: For FTB Part A, ATI includes a partner's (1.1.P.30) ATI for the relevant year if an individual is a member of a couple (1.1.M.50). For FTB Part B, the ATI of the secondary income earner (1.1.S.25) is only taken into account when the primary earner's ATI is at or below the income limit.

Higher income free area (1.1.H.10)

The higher income free area only applies to FTB Part A and is $111,398 for all families.

Maintenance income free area (1.1.M.21)

MIFA is the amount of maintenance income that is disregarded under the maintenance income test. The following table shows the current annual MIFA and the amount allowed for each additional FTB child attracting child support, depending on the family situation of the individual.

When calculating MIFA, the following children are excluded:

• children who are 16 years and older who are not senior secondary children, and
• children who do not attract child support.

Newborn supplement

NBS may be included as an add-on component for an individual's maximum rate (1.1.M.26) and base rate (1.1.B.10) of FTB Part A rate for a period of up to 13 weeks (91 days) for a newborn child or a child aged under one who becomes entrusted to the individual's care or a child who becomes entrusted to the individual's care as part an adoption process. See 3.11 for NBS rates.

NBS is indexed annually.

Newborn upfront payment

If an individual is eligible for at least one day of NBS and is not excluded under the legislative instrument, an NBU is also paid in respect of the first day of NBS eligibility. The NBU is a separate amount to the NBS and is not included in calculating an eligible individual's FTB Part A rate. See 3.11 for NBU rates.

NBU is indexed annually.

Energy supplement

The ES is included in the standard amounts of FTB Part A and Part B for each FTB child and is calculated depending on child age (3.1.1.25). The ES is not indexed.

Note: The ES ceased on 20 March 2017 for new FTB recipients. For individuals who became new recipients of FTB after 20 September 2016, they will no longer be paid ES after 19 March 2017. However, eligible individuals and ACOs may continue to be paid ES as part of their FTB rate under grandfathering rules. See 8.2.

Multiple birth allowance

MBA may be included as an add-on component for an individual's maximum rate of FTB Part A where the individual has 3 or more FTB children from the same birth. See 1.2.16 for MBA rates.