Appendices

Part four

Appendix 10: Family Tax Benefit reconciliation data

Table 4.26 below shows reconciliation outcomes for Family Tax Benefit recipients in the relevant entitlement year as at 26 June 2009.

Table 4.26: Reconciliation outcomes
		Entitlement Year
		2006-07	2007-08
Top-ups	Number of customers	1,812,698	1,722,130
	Per cent of total customer number	82%	84%
	Total amount	$3,629m	$3,612m
	Average amount	$2,002	$2,097
Nil change	Number of customers	173,668	167,685
Nil change	Per cent of total customer number	8%	8%
Overpayments	Number of customers	175,417	162,039
	Per cent of total customer number	8%	8%
	Total amount	$236m	$216m
	Average amount	$1,348	$1,330
Total	Number of customers	2,206,484	2,051,854

Table 4.27 shows the following information for customers who had been reconciled as at 26 June 2009:

number of Family Tax Benefit recipients with outstanding reconciliation debts in each entitlement year
total amount of outstanding Family Tax Benefit reconciliation debts for each entitlement year
number of Family Tax Benefit recipients who had part or all of their tax refund withheld to offset a debt from the same entitlement year.

Table 4.27: Outstanding debts
State		2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
ACT	Number of customers	104	127	241	400	858
	Total outstanding debt	$193,702	$227,969	$407,292	$620,693	$1,387,742
	Customers with tax refund withheld	1,016	1,551	1,277	1,233	1,232
NSW	Number of customers	2,098	2,599	5,417	9,845	19,037
	Total outstanding debt	$4,502,340	$5,691,399	$10,150,289	$15,830,217	$30,340,300
	Customers with tax refund withheld	19,369	25,590	23,459	21,958	22,306
NT	Number of customers	83	104	221	380	702
	Total outstanding debt	$161,117	$211,067	$349,028	$600,600	$1,038,037
	Customers with tax refund withheld	468	830	744	701	722
Qld	Number of customers	1,379	1,808	3,943	7,220	13,897
	Total outstanding debt	$2,777,042	$3,443,369	$6,932,813	$11,652,444	$22,769,804
	Customers with tax refund withheld	11,007	14,423	14,595	15,018	15,732
SA	Number of customers	361	435	1,058	2,044	4,467
	Total outstanding debt	$713,859	$890,203	$1,823,429	$3,087,876	$6,920,339
	Customers with tax refund withheld	3,992	5,398	4,985	4,975	5,334
Tas	Number of customers	130	161	352	649	1296
	Total outstanding debt	$198,492	$346,148	$567,549	$960,294	$1,876,905
	Customers with tax refund withheld	891	1,427	1,416	1,384	1,465
Vic	Number of customers	1,420	1,808	3,926	7,088	15,665
	Total outstanding debt	$2,879,688	$3,707,459	$6,938,631	$11,432,198	$25,824,307
	Customers with tax refund withheld	14,284	18,980	17,653	17,685	18,102
WA	Number of customers	777	989	2,047	3,964	7,963
	Total outstanding debt	$1,496,036	$2,045,054	$3,875,714	$6,365,801	$13,581,195
	Customers with tax refund withheld	5,827	8,257	7,665	8,446	9,069
N/R*	Number of customers	799	754	868	719	587
	Total outstanding debt	$1,279,502	$1,244,797	$1,339,976	$1,133,050	$955,315
	Customers with tax refund withheld	833	1,015	843	638	453
Total	Number of customers	7,151	8,785	18,073	32,309	64,472
	Total outstanding debt	$14,201,778	$17,807,466	$32,384,722	$51,683,174	$104,693,943
	Customers with tax refund withheld	57,687	77,471	72,637	72,038	74,415

* The N/R (not recorded) category covers customers with overseas addresses, addresses that are post office boxes (rather than street addresses), and invalid addresses (e.g. for people who are no longer customers).

State is the state in which the customer resided as at end of June 2009, which may differ from when the debt was incurred.

Table 4.28 shows the average Adjusted Taxable Income (ATI*), by state** / territory, for all Family Tax Benefit customers and their primary partner, who had been reconciled as at 26 June 2009 and had a debt in the relevant entitlement year.

Table 4.28: Average income by state/territory for customers with a debt
	2003-04	2004-05	2005-06	2006-07	2007-08
ACT	$82,522	$90,358	$95,031	$100,381	$103,610
NSW	$77,989	$84,081	$89,218	$95,674	$97,864
NT	$67,835	$76,984	$83,014	$87,994	$90,346
Qld	$72,984	$79,579	$86,428	$93,107	$95,519
SA	$71,686	$78,888	$83,763	$89,836	$92,528
Tas	$67,760	$74,894	$81,032	$86,018	$88,069
Vic	$75,811	$82,266	$88,023	$94,450	$96,006
WA	$75,382	$83,772	$93,214	$101,693	$104,100
N/R***	$78,964	$86,525	$93,940	$99,929	$109,404
Total	$75,539	$82,248	$88,391	$95,056	$97,228

** Customers with zero actual ATI are excluded in the calculation of average actual ATI.

** State is the state in which the customer resided as at end of June 2008, which may differ from when the debt was incurred.

*** The N/R (not recorded) category covers customers with overseas addresses, addresses that are post office boxes (rather than street addresses), and invalid addresses (e.g. for people who are no longer customers).

Table 4.29 shows the average actual ATI* by payment type, of customers and their primary partner who were entitled to Family Tax Benefit Part A (FTB Part A) at any stage in the relevant financial year and who had been reconciled as at 26 June 2009.

Table 4.29: Average incomes by payment type
	Average Actual Adjusted
	2006-07	2007-08
ATO Lump Sum	$72,041	$75,049
Centrelink Lump Sum	$58,233	$51,443
Instalments	$46,373	$47,064
Fortnightly/lump sum combination	$59,814	$53,472

* Customers with zero actual ATI are excluded in the calculation of average actual ATI.

Table 4.30 shows the distribution of actual adjusted taxable income (ATI) for customers and their primary partner who were entitled to FTB Part A or FTB Part B at any stage during the relevant financial year, and who had been reconciled as at 26 June 2009.

Table 4.30: Ranged income
	2006-07		2007-08
Actual ATI ($)	Customers entitled to FTB Part A	Customers entitled to FTB Part B	Customers entitled to FTB Part A	Customers entitled to FTB Part B
0 to less than 20,000	460,610	456,010	458,832	455,111
20,000 to less than 40,000	472,394	461,128	388,331	379,708
40,000 to less than 60,000	368,217	302,614	341,447	289,667
60,000 to less than 80,000	355,978	205,766	333,028	202,164
80,000 to less than 100,000	259,876	106,754	272,135	114,143
100,000 to less than 120,000	51,640	46,666	72,692	52,059
120,000 to less than 140,000	4,045	22,551	5,071	25,610
140,000 to less than 160,000	1,052	12,051	1,143	13,555
160,000 to less than 180,000	410	6,866	396	7,499
180,000 to less than 200,000	225	4,301	202	4,671
200,000 to less than 300,000	281	8,408	267	8,769
300,000 to less than 400,000	62	2,231	63	2,162
400,000 to less than 500,000	24	973	21	902
500,000 to less than 600,000	<20	410	<20	432
600,000 to less than 700,000	<20	244	<20	255
700,000 to less than 800,000	<20	161	<20	125
800,000 to less than 900,000	<20	122	<20	115
900,000 to less than 1,000,000	<20	88	<20	66
1,000,000 or more	40	314	39	252
Total	1,974,877	1,637,658	1,873,682	1,557,265

Please note: For the above table, Centrelink and ATO customers who were entitled to lump sum grants and were not subsequently reconciled are not included. Analysis shows this group of customers is too small to significantly alter the income distribution.

For privacy reasons, cells containing fewer than 20 observations have been reported as '<20'.

There are many reasons why families with high incomes can legitimately receive FTB Part A. These include:

customers with large families
customers who were entitled to an income support payment for part of the year
customers whose personal circumstances have changed during the year. For example, customers who were partnered for part of the year, and had their FTB Part A entitlements cancelled for the period when they were partnered and had income above the threshold, but were entitled to FTB Part A for the period when they were not partnered
certain groups of customers who are free of the FTB Part A income test-blind Disability Support Pensioners receive their income support payments and FTB Part A free of income testing in accordance with existing legislation.

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Contents

Appendices

Part four

Appendix 10: Family Tax Benefit reconciliation data