Family Tax Benefit · guide
The Family Tax Benefit end-of-year supplements
Part of Family Tax Benefit is held back until the year is over and your income is known. Here is how much, and who misses out.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
Each year, part of Family Tax Benefit is paid only after the financial year ends and both partners' incomes have been checked: the Part A supplement, up to $970.90 for each child in 2026-27, and the Part B supplement, up to $478.15 per family. The Part A supplement has a hard limit: a family whose adjusted taxable income is above $80,000 receives none, even if it still gets fortnightly Part A. Both supplements belong to the maximum rate, so the income tests can shrink them too. They are paid once the year has been reconciled, which requires each partner to lodge a tax return or tell Centrelink they do not need to, and Centrelink can use them first to clear an FTB or Child Care Subsidy debt. A family with two children and an income of $79,000 expects about $1,942 of Part A supplement; at $81,000 it gets nothing.
Your FTB supplements after the tax return
Supplements paid after reconciliation
$2,420
| Part A supplement | $1,942 |
| Part B supplement (single parent) | $478 |
Both depend on lodging a tax return, or telling Centrelink you do not need to.
Why part of the payment waits
Family Tax Benefit is paid during the year on an estimate of income. The supplements are the part Centrelink keeps back until that estimate has been replaced by the real figure from your tax return. They act as a buffer: if the estimate was too low and you were overpaid, the supplement is the first place the overpayment is recovered from, before any debt notice is sent. If everything was right, it arrives as a lump sum, usually a few weeks after the last tax return in the family has been processed.
The Part A supplement and its $80,000 line
The Part A supplement is added to the annual rate of every child, at both the maximum and the base rate, up to $970.90 each. It disappears entirely when family adjusted taxable income passes $80,000: there is no taper on this condition, only a line (Family Assistance Guide 3.1.1.20). Below the line, the income test can still reduce it, because it sits inside the maximum rate that the 20 cent taper works on.
| Family income | Fortnightly Part A for the year | Part A supplement | Total Part A |
|---|---|---|---|
| $79,000 | $10,305 | $1,942 | $12,247 |
| $81,000 | $9,905 | $0 | $9,905 |
The table shows the cost of crossing the line for a two-child family: $2,342 of Part A lost for $2,000 more income. A family close to the limit should know that salary sacrifice does not move it under the line: reportable superannuation contributions are added back to adjusted taxable income, and so are reportable fringe benefits.
The Part B supplement
The Part B supplement is one amount per family, up to $478.15. It has no separate income line: it is part of the Part B rate and falls with it under the lower earner test. A couple whose lower earner makes $30,000 keeps $478 of it, for instance, because the 20 cent taper has already taken the rest. A single parent under the primary earner limit receives the full supplement.
A worked year
Consider a couple with two children aged 4 and 10 who estimate a family income of $76,000 for the year. Each fortnight they receive Part A and Part B without supplements. In August, after both tax returns are processed, their actual income turns out to be $78,500: still under the $80,000 line, so the Part A supplement is paid, but the extra $2,500 of income means they were overpaid $500 of Part A during the year. Centrelink takes that $500 out of the supplements and pays the balance. Had their income come in at $80,500, the Part A supplement would have been nil and the $900 overpayment would have been taken from the Part B supplement, with any remainder raised as a debt.
Planning around the supplements
The supplements are useful money, but they are not a reliable part of a fortnightly budget. A family whose income moved during the year should expect them to be smaller, or to be absorbed by an overpayment. Updating the income estimate in your Centrelink online account as soon as a pay rise or a new job starts is the best way to receive them intact. If you claim Family Tax Benefit as a lump sum after the year instead of fortnightly, the supplements are simply included in that single payment.
The supplements are included in the yearly totals of the Family Tax Benefit calculator and of the household calculator, and kept out of the fortnightly figures, as Centrelink pays them.