What to do at tax time

If you pay or receive child support you must confirm your income at the end of every financial year. You can do this by either lodging a:

• tax return
• non-lodgment advice if the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) says you don’t need to lodge a tax return.

To check if you need to lodge a tax return, use the Do I need to lodge a tax return? tool on the ATO website.

What to include in your tax return

If you’re lodging a tax return, there may be some details you need from us to lodge.

If you pay child support

Child support you pay is not deductible for tax purposes. However, you may report how much child support you paid in the financial year in your tax return. Read more on the ATO’s website about reporting child support you paid.

We may deduct child support you pay when working out your adjusted taxable income. We use this to work out your eligibility for some payments and services, including Family Tax Benefit.

If your Child Support online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to find the total amount of child support you paid in the financial year.

Sign in to myGov

You can also use the Express Plus Child Support mobile app.

If you receive child support or spousal support

You don’t pay tax on child support and spousal support you receive. This means you don’t have to report them in your tax return.

If you get other payments from us you may need to report them if they’re taxable. Find out more about taxable Centrelink payments.

How we use your tax return or non-lodgment advice

We use both parent’s income to work out who pays child support and how much. We usually use income information from your tax return or non-lodgment advice. We get this from the ATO once your tax return or non-lodgment advice has been processed.

The ATO shares this information with us and we will send you a new assessment letter. Read more about how your income affects your child support.

If you’re not ready to lodge your tax return

It’s important you lodge your tax return on time. If you have your income information but aren’t ready to lodge your tax return, you can tell us your income.

If your Child Support online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to tell us about changes to your income.

Sign in to myGov

You can also tell us by:

• using the Express Plus Child Support mobile app
• calling us on the Child Support Enquiry Line.

You can also complete the income declaration form and send it to us by:

• using your Child Support online account through myGov
• sending it by post or fax.

If your current income is lower than the income we’re using

If your income is more than 15% lower than the income we’re using in the child support assessment, you may decide to use a child support income estimate. This means instead of using your actual income from the previous financial year, we use an income estimate. This is what you think you’ll earn in the current financial year.

We can only change your assessment from the day that you tell us to use an income estimate. You must keep your estimate up to date and update it as your income changes.

If you or the other parent have previously estimated income

After the financial year ends, we compare your child support income estimate to your actual income in your tax return. If your income estimate is lower than your actual income, we’ll reassess your child support assessment. This may mean you get a debt or overpayment and we can use your tax refund to repay this. Read more about how we recover debts at tax time.

Backdated changes to your child support could impact your past rate of FTB. This may mean you have either been overpaid or underpaid FTB. Read more about what happens if we update your child support assessment while you get FTB.

It’s also important to remember your estimate ends on the last day of the financial year. This means we’ll go back to using your actual income from the last financial year on 1 July.

If you need to estimate again you need do this before the end of the current financial year. If you tell us after, we can only use your estimate from the day that you tell us.

Read more about when you need to update your estimate.

When we can use your tax refund

We can use a tax refund to pay any outstanding child or spousal support amounts. This includes if you owe child support or if you’ve been overpaid child support.

If this would cause you hardship, call us on the Child Support enquiry line. Do this before you lodge your tax return.

Find out more about how we recover overdue child and spousal support.

What happens if you or the other parent lodge a tax return late

It’s important you lodge your tax return on time or update your income details with us. If you haven’t lodged a tax return on time, we’ll work out a provisional income. Read more about what income we use if you haven’t lodged your tax return.

If your actual income was lower than the provisional income, we usually can’t go back and change your income at a later date. This means if you pay child support, you may overpay.

If you lodge late and your actual income is higher than the provisional income we used, you may get a debt or overpayment.

This can also impact your FTB if either parent lodges late and we update your past assessment. Read more about what happens if we update your child support assessment while you get FTB.

If the other parent’s income isn’t correct

There are options available if the income or earning capacity we’re using for a parent isn’t reflected in the assessment. This includes if the other parent hasn’t lodged a tax return.

Find out more about changing your child support assessment in special circumstances.