Can Both Parents Claim Family Tax Benefit in Australia?

The Family Tax Benefit (FTB) is a social security benefit that helps families with everyday expenses. About 1 in 5 family households in Australia receives it.

Even when a child's parents aren't a couple, both of them may be able to claim this benefit.

How FTB is calculated

First, it's important to understand the basics of how FTB is calculated. Eligibility is based partly on income and on care arrangements (parenting time). To avoid surprises at tax time, keep your information current in myGov. Be aware that the income eligibility threshold changes every tax year, and so does the maximum payout.

FTB Part A — per child

There's an income test for Part A. Parents who earn below a certain amount of taxable income can receive a payment for each child to help with the costs of raising them.

Exactly what you receive is also based on:

• How old each child is
• Whether they've received their required immunisations (Consider writing a provision in your parenting plan to ensure you have the other parent's consent to vaccinate).
• Your percentage of caring responsibilities (i.e., how your parenting schedule splits time)
• Whether you're making an effort to collect child support from the other parent (called the Maintenance Action Test)

The fortnightly payment per eligible child could be a couple hundred dollars, depending in part on each child's age. You may qualify for an annual supplemental payment of several hundred dollars.

FTB Part B — per family

There's a different income test for Part B. These payments are calculated to benefit households where there's only one main income.

The fortnightly payment per family is about a hundred dollars, potentially a bit higher if there are any children under 5. You may qualify for an annual supplemental payment of a few hundred dollars.

Can both separated parents claim the Family Tax Benefit?

Yes, in some circumstances.

To receive FTB Part A for a certain child, a parent must care for that child at least 35% of the time. Separated parents who have a 60/40 time split, for example, might both qualify for a payment. But if their split were 70/30, only the parent with more time would be eligible.

If you're a nonparent carer, like a stepparent

A child can have nonparent carers, and they can have more than two carers. People like stepparents can therefore be part of the calculation. However, no more than two carers can be eligible for FTB Part A, simply because it's impossible for three carers to each have 35% (over one-third) of the care arrangements.

If you're legally separated but still sharing a home

If you're sharing a home with your ex, the government will consider your personal circumstances. Your care percentages will probably be assumed to be a 50/50 split unless there's evidence otherwise. Both of you can receive FTB.

If you're no longer living together

If you've recently separated, you may be seeking FTB to cover a past period when you were still a couple. Services Australia will assess your application based on your relationship status during that past period. If you can't agree with each other how to split the FTB payment, it'll be split according to your current parenting time arrangement, rounded to the nearest whole percentage).

Once someone files for FTB to cover that past period, their ex-partner can't file separately for it. The FTB decision will be attributed to them as a former couple. Filing separately would be like making duplicate requests.

Assessing your care percentage for your Family Tax Benefit

Guessing or estimating your care percentage can impact your Family Tax Benefit.

The Custody X Change app lets you quickly calculate your exact number of overnights, taking into account special occasions and school holidays.

Try this with Custody X Change.

You can also explore parenting schedules with Custody X Change to see how they affect your number of nights with your child. Plus, see how your number changes each year.

If you're applying for benefits, make sure your parenting time calculation is exact. The number will affect you, your child and the other parent for years to come.