Most of these refunds were processed and paid between July 2020 and November 2020.
A very small number of former customers are still owed a refund. This is because we don’t have their current contact information or bank account details to pay their refund.
How to check if you’re owed a refund
If you’re a former customer and you think you may be owed a refund, call the Income Compliance line and talk to a staff member.
You are only eligible for a refund if all of the following apply:
- you got an Income Compliance Program debt between 1 July 2015 and 19 November 2019
- we raised your debt using averaged ATO income information
- you repaid some or all of that debt.
You won’t get a refund if your debt used other income evidence, such as:
- payslips
- information from employers
- bank statements
- amended payment summaries from the ATO
- other third party confirmation.
You also won’t get a refund if your debt was due to the annual balancing of family assistance payments. This is because Family Tax Benefit and Child Care Subsidy was not part of the Income Compliance Program.
What else you need to know
Tax
Robodebt refunds are not taxable. You don’t need to take any action at tax time in relation to your refund. Read more about the tax treatment of refunds on the Australian Taxation Office website.
If you have other Centrelink debts
We won’t use your refund to repay other Centrelink debts you have, unless you ask us to.
Refunds that we pay in instalments
A small number of refunds will be paid in instalments over consecutive business days.