The Baby Bonus changes will affect parents who have already had their first baby and are having a further baby due after 1 July 2013. The payment for subsequent babies will now be $3,000. It will remain at $3,000 until 1st July 2015, when it will be indexed with CPI.
There are a few eligibility tests to claiming the baby bonus. The main one that is worth noting is that the bonus is payable if the family's estimated taxable income is $75,000 or less in the six months AFTER your child is born or enters your care. Its important to note that the threshold is your taxable income. This means that its your assessable income (what your gross income is on the payslips) minus any tax deductions. If you're close to the threshold, its always great to be maximising all tax deductions legally possible. A quality Accountant should be able to assist with this.
Its also important to note here that families CANNOT claim both the Baby Bonus and the Parental Leave Pay. It is either one or the other, or in some cases, it might be neither.
The recent cuts to the Baby Bonus payment DO NOT affect the Parental Leave Pay. There are actually increases to the Parental Leave Pay in the form of Dad and Partner Pay from January 2013. I have blogged about this recently.
Parental Leave Pay is payments of up to 18 weeks of paid leave at the National Minimum Wage of $606.50 per week, which equates to $10,917 before tax (you will be taxed at your marginal tax rates). There are a few tests to satisfy eligibility for the Parental Leave Pay.
Importantly, the income test is that you have to have an individual adjusted taxable income of $150,000 or less in the financial year before the date of birth, adoption or claim (whichever is earlier). As stated already, its the taxable income that determines eligibility, so if your salary is on or near this amount, its definitely worth seeing an Accountant to make sure you are maximising all your possible tax deductions to decrease your taxable income. .
Another tip to helping your family swiftly claim any family government payments is that you generally need to have all your tax returns lodged and up to date. If you're due to welcome baby soon and you or your partner have a few years of tax returns outstanding, now's the time to get moving on these. Centrelink generally won't let you claim the Childcare Rebate or Benefits unless all your tax returns for both yourself and your partner have been lodged.
Finally, the following info sheet from the Australian Government can help you when choosing between the Baby Bonus and the Parental Leave Pay. It also contains info about the 'work test' - another extremely important test to qualify for the Parental Leave Pay. I encourage you to check it out.
