Abstract
Centrelink will not pay youth allowance and FBT Part B simultaneously. "We were told we weren't entitled to Youth Allowance because of my husband's income," Ms [David Quinn] said. "This is the children's most expensive time. Socially they are wanting to do things, and my daughter is doing extra education. She is coming into an age when she is learning to drive. It is just huge, all the expenses. Then they cut the payments. What happens between yesterday and today? ... Bewildering is a good word."
"Because it is all lumped together, it is very difficult to know what you are eligible for in terms of each individual child," Ms Quinn said. "There is no detail and it is left to you to work out. You don't know what you're getting for which kid."
Ms Quinn said the the lost income meant "we don't take holidays, singing and music lessons have gone out the window and there are ongoing sacrifices which impact on all the children".
Full Text
FAMILIES
FOR the Quinns and tens of thousands of other families with children on the cusp of turning 16, the shock of their kids becoming young adults is made worse by a complicated benefits system that leaves them financially worse off when the cost of raising them is peaking.
David Quinn, 47, works in a plastics factory in Wodonga in rural Victoria, while his wife Heather, 41, home-schools their four children.
In February last year the Quinns had a combined income of about $64,000. They were entitled to Family Tax Benefit Part A, which is designed to offset the costs of raising children, and Part B, largely paid to single parents and families with one main source of income.
Under these rules, the Quinns received $482.94 fortnightly for their four children.
The day their daughter Melinda turned 16, the payments dropped to $350.98.
"We basically lost $130 a fortnight just like that," Ms Quinn said.
"We got a letter from Centrelink telling us that our benefit had been scaled back."
Ms Quinn rang Centrelink to enquire why the payment had dropped; she was told that was how the system worked.
As the Government's Tax Review records, when a child turns 16 the maximum rate of FTB PartA falls substantially but youth allowance only becomes available for some families. Almost all low- to middle-income families lose some income and are faced with a bewildering choice as to which payment to receive.
Centrelink will not pay youth allowance and FBT Part B simultaneously. "We were told we weren't entitled to Youth Allowance because of my husband's income," Ms Quinn said. "This is the children's most expensive time. Socially they are wanting to do things, and my daughter is doing extra education. She is coming into an age when she is learning to drive. It is just huge, all the expenses. Then they cut the payments. What happens between yesterday and today? ... Bewildering is a good word."
Thousands of families struggle to make sense of the family assistance scheme. They do complex sums to determine whether they are better off if they claim youth allowance or continue with the family payments, for which income thresholds apply.
"Because it is all lumped together, it is very difficult to know what you are eligible for in terms of each individual child," Ms Quinn said. "There is no detail and it is left to you to work out. You don't know what you're getting for which kid."
The Quinns say they sorely miss the $130, and next year, when their son Jeremy turns 16, they face further losses.
Ms Quinn said the the lost income meant "we don't take holidays, singing and music lessons have gone out the window and there are ongoing sacrifices which impact on all the children".
She said the system was outdated and failed to consider that children were staying in school longer. "The payment should continue until you finish your Year 12 study. There is no reason why it should suddenly terminate at 16," she said.
----- RISE AND FALL -----
History of tax reform
1901 On federation, the states hand exclusive rights to the commonwealth to impose customs duties and excise, and share their power to levy taxes
1910 Land tax on unimproved values is introduced and the commonwealth provides for financial assistance to the states
1914 Death duties are imposed
1915 Personal income tax and a tax on dividends is introduced
1930 A 2.5 per cent sales tax is brought in
1942 Income tax is collected on a uniform basis and the commonwealth uses grants to the states to replace revenue from their own forgone taxes
1944 The commonwealth recruits employers to help introduce a pay-as-you-earn (PAYE) tax system for wage and salary earners and sets up a provisional tax system for non-wages and salary income
1952 Land tax is abolished in favour of the states
1971 Responsibility of payroll tax is passed to states
1979 Death and gift duties are abolished
1983 A prescribed payments system is introduced to cover contractors in certain industries, such as building and construction
1984 Medicare levy is introduced
1986 Commonwealth brings in capital gains tax and fringe benefits tax
1999-2000 A 10 per cent goods and services tax is introduced and this replaces various taxes, including sales tax
2006 Commonwealth repeals 68 redundant tax acts and amends other acts
2008 The Rudd Government commissions a comprehensive review of Australia's tax system
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Credit: Lex Hall, John Stapleton
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