If you or your partner gift money, income or assets, we may assess it in your income and assets tests. Before you or your partner make a gift, contact us to check if it will change your payment. You should call your regular payment line.
Any gifts you made in the past 5 years may be included in your income and assets tests. If you aren't required to report your income to us regularly, you must tell us about any gifts within 14 days. If you do report regularly, you must tell us on or before your reporting date, of the period when the gift happens.
Gifting free areas
$10,000 in one financial year. $30,000 over 5 financial years - this can't include more than $10,000 in a single financial year.
Gifting limits
The $10,000 and $30,000 limits apply together meaning that assets can be gifted up to $10,000 per financial year without penalty but gifts must not exceed $30,000 in a rolling five-year period.
In Australia, gifts and inheritances are generally not considered as income and don't require you to pay any Australian taxes. We define a gift with the following criteria: there is a transfer of money or property.
You can choose to give away any amount and as many gifts as you like. If the total value of your gifts is more than the value of the gifting free area, your payment may be affected.
No. According to the Australian Taxation Office, monetary gifts from relatives and friends (even from overseas) do not count as assessable income and therefore don't have to be declared by the giver or receiver come tax time – regardless of the amount. There are a few caveats, however.
The Work Bonus income bank is useful for pensioners who wish to work, particularly those who undertake intermittent or occasional work. Note: from 1 December 2022 to 31 December 2023, a one-off, temporary credit of $4,000 applies to Work Bonus income bank balances.
Explanation: Only amounts disposed of in excess of the disposal free areas are assessable under the assets test. These amounts are called deprived assets.
What happens if the gifting limits are exceeded? If the gifting limits are breached, the amount in excess of the gifting limit is considered to be a deprived asset of the person and/or their spouse.
Yes, you have to disclose your inheritance to Centrelink within fourteen days of being able to access your inheritance.
The inheritance won't affect your income or assets test if you put it in a super fund if: you're under Age Pension age. you haven't started drawing on the fund.
The total gift amount must be quite substantial before the IRS even takes notice. For tax year 2022, if the value of the gift is $16,000 or less in a calendar year, it doesn't even count. For tax year 2023, this increases to $17,000. The IRS calls this amount the annual gift tax exclusion.
If you do report regularly, you must tell us on or before your reporting date, of the period when the gift happens. If you don't, we may overpay you. If your Centrelink online account is linked to myGov, sign in now to report gifts, sales or transfers.
Many people believe Centrelink has access to your bank account and will take it into consideration for your payment rate. This isn't true. Centrelink can't access your bank accounts to determine up to date figures. They're basing your assessment on the last amount you gave them.
Reporting your income
Every 2 weeks you must report employment income you and your partner were paid in the last 14 days. You'll need to report your income even if it's $0. If you don't report every 2 weeks, your payment will stop. We'll tell you which dates you must report on and when your income reporting will start.
Liquid assets include cash you have on hand, money you have in the bank and financial investments you have. They also include gifts and other money available to you at short notice. We use the assets test to help us work out if you can be paid an allowance and how much you'll get.
Bank interest reviews. We check your bank account information is up to date. We do this to check we paid you the right payment and amount in the past.
On 1 February 2022, the Federal Government announced aged care workers would be eligible to receive a bonus payment of up to $800.
This measure extends the increase to 31 December 2023. The Work Bonus concession of $300 per fortnight will stay the same. Eligible pensioners now have until 31 December 2023 to use their bigger Work Bonus balance. Any Work Bonus balance above $7,800 after 31 December 2023 will reset to $7,800.
The Carer Supplement is an annual payment of $600 which is attached to each Carer Allowance. The Supplement is paid in July each year.
A gift is not considered to be income for federal tax purposes.
Give financial assets through a Uniform Gifts to Minors Act (UGMA) or Uniform Transfers to Minors Act (UTMA) custodial account. These accounts allow you to gift and transfer any amount of money, securities, and even property to a minor.
There is no limit to the amount of physical currency that may be brought into or taken out of Australia. However, travellers entering and departing Australia must report any currency they are carrying of $10,000 or more in Australian dollars, or the foreign currency equivalent.