EXPLANATORY STATEMENT
Family Assistance (Designated Date) Determination 2004
Summary
The purpose of this instrument is for the Secretary to determine the designated date for the purposes of Subdivision D of Division 1 of Part 3 of the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) (Administration) Act 1999 (“the Family Assistance Administration Act”).
Background
The Family Assistance Legislation Amendment (More Help for Families- Increased Payments) Act 2004 amended the A New Tax System (Family Assistance) Act 1999 to provide for an ongoing increase in the maximum and base rates of Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A of $600 annually for each FTB child. The new FTB Part A supplement would be paid as a lump sum on income reconciliation for the 2003-04 income year and later years.
The Family Assistance Administration Act was also amended to provide, in broad terms, that the new FTB Part A supplement cannot be added into an individual’s rate of FTB unless and until the relevant FTB reconciliation conditions are satisfied and sets out the “FTB reconciliation conditions”. Sections 32F, 32G and 32H of the Family Assistance Administration Act rely on the concept of a designated date for their operation.
Explanation of the provisions
Section 1 of the instrument states the name of the disallowable instrument.
Section 2 states that the Determination commences on 1 July 2004, which is the same day that the family assistance law is amended to provide for the payment of a FTB Part A supplement.
Section 3 of the Determination states that the designated date for the purposes of Subdivision D of Division 1 of Part 3 of the Family Assistance Administration Act will be 30 June. Subsection 32R(3) of the Family Assistance Administration Act provides that the designated date is a date that recurs each income year.
The term designated date appears in sections 32F, 32G and 32H. A person cannot be paid the FTB Part A supplement in respect of a particular income year until the relevant reconciliation time (ie when all the relevant reconciliation conditions are satisfied in respect of the income year). The designated date may be relevant to working out the relevant reconciliation time in relation to a person who was a member of a couple during the relevant income year but in one of the following two years ceased being a member of that couple.