I am on a single parent pension from centrelink and have decided to try and start a little home business to help pay the bills etc. I have got an abn and insurance to cover myself but my question is, do i need to tell centrelink/ report income? I looked up their website and it said so long as you didnt earn over a certain amount (which i dont), your payments wouldnt be affected. It is so hard to call/ go in so just hoping to save myself the trouble if someone knows.
2 Replies
Yes you need to report your income no matter how much. In your case you will have to produce a profit and loss statement every few months so they can determine your income. I had to do this for a few years, my advice, get a simple book keeping software program and talk to centrelink before you start. If you live in government housing you will have to do the same for them and there reporting periods are likely to be different meaning the need to produce a profit and loss for multiple reporting periods.
Even if no income was made you need to tell them