Household worked through · rates of 20 September 2026
A couple with two young children on one income
Daniel earns $95,000; Priya is at home with their children aged 2 and 6. They own their home. No main payment, but Family Tax Benefit on both parts.
Checked by Radif Partners · Editorial policy · How we calculate
A couple with children aged 2 and 6, one parent earning $95,000 and the other at home, receives about $473 a fortnight of Family Tax Benefit in 2026-27, with $478 of supplements after the tax returns. Part B is what makes the difference here: it is designed for exactly this household, and because the parent at home has no income and the earner is under the primary earner limit of $124,327, it is paid at the full rate for a youngest child under 5, $200 a fortnight. Part A is income tested on the family total of $95,000: above the free area of $69,131, each dollar removes 20 cents, which leaves $273 a fortnight between the two children. The household receives no main payment: nobody is looking for work, and Daniel's income would cancel any Parenting Payment for Priya through the partner income test. When Priya returns to part-time work, Part B falls first.
More details: ages, assets, child care fees
What this household gets, per fortnight
$473
$12,806 a year, including $478 of FTB supplements paid after tax time
- Family Tax Benefit Part A$273
Method 1
- Family Tax Benefit Part B$200
Secondary earner test
Family income for FTB and CCS: $95,000 a year. How this is worked out.
Part B carries the household
For a single-income couple, Part B is the payment to watch. Its test first checks that the higher earner is at or under $124,327, which Daniel is, then looks only at the lower earner, Priya, whose income is nil (Family Assistance Guide 3.1.9.20). The family therefore receives the full rate for a youngest child under 5, $200 a fortnight, plus the Part B supplement of $478 after the year. On the youngest child's fifth birthday, the rate drops to the lower amount, and on the thirteenth birthday Part B ends for a couple.
Part A on a family income of $95,000
Part A adds both incomes. At $95,000, the family is $25,869 above the free area, so Method 1 removes $5,174 from the maximum rate of the two children. What remains, $7,105 a year, is still above the two base rates, so Method 1 pays. A pay rise to $105,000 would take Part A to $196 a fortnight; Part A for these two children ends altogether at about $136,218. No Part A supplement is paid, because the family income is above $80,000.
What changes when the second parent goes back to work
Suppose Priya takes a part-time job paying $25,000 a year. Part B now has an income to test: $17,846 above the lower earner's free area, at 20 cents a dollar. Part A sees the family income rise to $120,000. The household's Family Tax Benefit drops to about $215 a fortnight, so the family keeps roughly 73 cents of each dollar Priya earns, before tax and child care. If the younger child goes to day care while she works, Child Care Subsidy at 83% of the fee would offset much of the cost; set the days in the calculator above to see it.