Newell and Teel (Child support)

[2020] AATA 1484

Newell and Teel (Child support) [2020] AATA 1484 (13 March 2020)

DIVISION:Social Services & Child Support Division

REVIEW NUMBER:  2019/SC017374

APPLICANT:  Mr Newell

OTHER PARTIES:  Child Support Registrar

Miss Teel

TRIBUNAL:Member S Letch

DECISION DATE:  13 March 2020

DECISION:

The decision under review is set aside and the matter is sent back to the Child Support Registrar for reconsideration in accordance with the direction that the child support assessment be reconsidered on the basis that Mr Newell provided an estimate of adjusted taxable income for the 2019/20 financial year (and not the 2018/19 financial year) on 30 June 2019 (Child Support Agency receipt number 1725641).

CATCHWORDS

CHILD SUPPORT – particulars of the administrative assessment – estimate of income - whether the estimate election was intended to be for a different income year - decision under review set aside and sent back with directions

Names used in all published decisions are pseudonyms. Any references appearing in square brackets indicate that information has been removed from this decision and replaced with generic information so as not to identify involved individuals as required by subsections 16(2AB)-16(2AC) of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988.

REASONS FOR DECISION

1. Mr Newell has been assessed by the Child Support Agency (CSA) as liable to pay child support to Miss Teel.

2. The assessment for the period 19 November 2018 to 30 June 2019 was based on a reduced estimate of income supplied by Mr Newell following a change in his circumstances. On 12 June 2019, the CSA wrote to Mr Newell in the following terms:

   We are writing to notify you that the Child Support Agency's (CSA) records show the period we applied your estimate of income to is about to end.

   What this means for you

   ·Your current estimate of income will only apply until 30 June 2019.

   ·From 1 July 2019 to 30 November 2019 your child support case…will be based on your income for the 2017/2018 financial year, which is $115,464.

   If you expect to earn less than $98,144, you may be able to lodge an estimate for the 2020 financial year. You can lodge an estimate on CSAonline, or you can contact us to discuss your options.

   If you lodge an estimate for the 2020 financial year, and your circumstances change, you can withdraw the estimate prior to 1 July 2019.

   If you do not expect to earn less than $98,144, you do not need to do anything.

   …

3. Mr Newell’s evidence, corroborated by CSA records (folios 35 and 36 of the CSA materials), is that the invitation in that letter was accepted by him. He “went online” on 30 June 2019 to register what he intended to be a 2019/20 estimate of his income as it remained low (he was still unemployed; he started work later in July 2019 and supplied an estimate of his income of some $73,000, applied to the assessment from 23 July 2019).

4. Mr Newell objected to the assessment of the CSA of his 2017/18 income for the period 1 July 2019 to 22 July 2019. On 7 September 2019, an objections officer disallowed Mr Newell’s objection, finding that the assessment on the higher level of income for the disputed period was correct. That officer makes no mention of the CSA’s own records revealing the provision of an estimate on 30 June 2019 (presumably as it was dismissed as being an estimate for the 2018/19 year).

5. Mr Newell applied for further review by the Tribunal. He participated in the Tribunal’s hearing by conference telephone; Miss Teel elected not to participate in the hearing.

6. Following the hearing, Mr Newell supplied additional evidence in the form of “screenshots” of his online experience on 30 June 2019, along with the following written submission:

   As discussed today, I am sending these attachments to support my Objection to the Child support assessment in dispute:

   1.A receipt no. 1725641 of my estimate lodgement on 30-Jun-2019. You can also find this receipt on page 12

   2.The pages that you navigate when lodging an estimate online. By default, you can only lodge for a previous year (2017/18) or current year (2018/19). This is locked in so one does not have a choice

   3.On page 36-37, you will find the Income estimate dated 30-June-2019, which Child support flag as "PENDING PLUTO ONLINE SUBS ESTIMATE". This was NOT considered in the objection decision by Child Support

   4.On page 38-40, date 3-July-2019 [Ms A] accepts the estimate and changes the status of the pending estimate to "Online amended estimate".

7. The Tribunal accepted Mr Newell as a credible and consistent witness. His account of his events is entirely consistent with the CSA records and materials. The Tribunal accepts the CSA online portal had not allowed Mr Newell to select the estimate period as relating to the 2019/20 financial year, despite its invitation for him to make such an election in its letter of 12 June 2019. It would make no sense for Mr Newell to provide an update of his 2018/19 income on the last day of the financial year; he clearly was intending to supply a 2019/20 estimate. He is not excluded from making that election by the system limitations which did not allow him to label the estimate with anything other than the current (or earlier) financial years.

8. Accordingly, the Tribunal finds as fact that Mr Newell supplied an estimate for the 2019/20 financial year (and not the 2018/19 year) on 30 June 2019 in his recorded online submission. The matter will be set aside and sent back to the CSA to reconsider the child support assessment on that basis.

DECISION

The decision under review is set aside and the matter is sent back to the Child Support Registrar for reconsideration in accordance with the direction that the child support assessment be reconsidered on the basis that Mr Newell provided an estimate of adjusted taxable income for the 2019/20 financial year (and not the 2018/19 financial year) on 30 June 2019 (Child Support Agency receipt number 1725641).