Julie wright has written a very interesting guest post on Family Tax Breaks
This post might be very helpful for some.
Almost every nation that taxes its citizens
offers tax offsets for families, and Australia is no different. If you live
down under and have a family, you can qualify for significant deductions and
credit come tax time. Here are tax offsets that every filer with a spouse or
child needs to be aware of:
1. Dependent Spouse
The dependent spouse offset is available to
those filers who have maintained their spouse for the year. Your spouse must
have been born before 1971, and both of you must be residents of Australia. If
either you or your spouse qualified for Part B of the family tax benefit, you
are ineligible for the dependent spouse offset.
2. Child-Housekeeper
If you employed your child as a full-time
housekeeper, you are eligible for the child-housekeeper offset. The age of your
child doesn’t matter, but you both must be residents of Australia. Anyone who
is eligible for the dependent spouse offset or Part B of the family tax benefit
are ineligible for this offset.
3. Dependent Relative
If you care for a relative throughout the
year, you may qualify for the dependent relative offset. To qualify for the
offset, the person that you are caring for must be your invalid spouse, carer
spouse, an invalid relative aged 16 or older, your spouse’s invalid relative
aged 16 or older, or your parent or spouse’s parent. To qualify, both you and
your relative must be an Australian resident.
4. Spouse Superannuation
The spouse superannuation offset is available
for those Australian’s who make after-tax contributions to their spouse’s
superannuation account. To qualify for the offset, you and your spouse must
have lived together permanently while contributions were being made, both of you
must have been residents of Australia when the contributions were made, and you
cannot have claimed any deductions for your contributions.
5. Family Tax Benefit Part A
Part A of the family tax benefit allows for
rates per fortnight for any dependent children. Rates vary depending on your
children’s ages: under 13, 13 through 15, 16 and 17, and from 18 to 24. If your
child works and earns more than a certain amount per year, you aren’t eligible
to receive Part A of the family tax benefit. Once your children turn 21, they
are considered to be independent no matter where they live.
6. Family Tax Benefit Part B
Part B of the family tax benefit is similar
to Part A. The difference in Part B is that you have to be a single parent to
qualify, or be part of a couple where one person’s job is staying home
full-time or part-time to take care of the children. People who think they may
qualify for Part B need to take a close look at their income to make sure that
they are eligible. If you stay at home and your spouse makes less than
$150,000, you will generally qualify for this benefit.
There are many tax benefits for families in
Australia. If you are newly married or a new parent, consult a professional tax
preparer to make sure that you receive all of the family tax breaks that you
qualify for.
Julie
Wright writes for financing blogs and sites nationwide. She recommends using taxcredits.net as a
resource for information on working tax credit
changes to reduce your taxes.
Linking up with Mama Grace over @ With Some Grace for some FYBF!
Linking up with Mama Grace over @ With Some Grace for some FYBF!
