I have under estimated my family income (not on purpose) for the previous financial year by 6 to 10K. I say between 6-10 as if they factor in child support it will be on the lower end.
I was expecting the debt to be raised once I'd lodged my tax return, however I've received nothing of the likes from Centrelink and ATO have processed my return with the deposit hitting my bank tomorrow.
When does Centrelink chase debts for over payments? Should I be sitting on that tax return until I get some kind of heads up from Centrelink. I'd rather not sit on hold with them for hours on end if I don't have to.
Underestimated family income - debt
Underestimated family income - debt
Posted in:
Money
5 Replies
They're not raising debts until October due to Covid. They won't budge on this. I've tried.
Inconvenient as I have a debt because they overpaid even though I told them they were incorrect. Now I have to pay an accountant to apply for an extension & do my tax return because it stuffs everything up!!!!
Thanks for that, I've just found some info on their website, referring to the pause on debts and benefit balancing. I too would have preferred to pay the debt now, rather then later.
They'll take a little while to balance the payments, the data is normally sent direct from the ATO - you can check on the Centrelink app where the Family Assistance and Child Care payments balancing is up to (sometimes it will tell you how long it will be, sometimes just that they're balancing, they have all the info they need and will be in touch). If you'd rather pay it all off in one hit keep the return. Otherwise, once the debt is raised they will likely allow you to pay a bit off each fortnight. I had one a few years back when my husband received an extremely large bonus (I'm talking tens of thousands) midway through the financial year that blew our estimates out of the water, and even though I immediately revised and updated our income estimates we got a debt. I had the option to pay it off in small increments or in one chunk.
Thanks for that, I've been looking in the wrong section. I went to 'money I owe' instead of the balancing section
If you have plans for your tax return I'd just put a portion away and use the rest. If what you put away isn't enough pay that amount upfront and pay the rest off.