Baby bonus & moving overseas?

[Princess_Alisa]

My family (DH, DD, new baby and I) are going to move overseas to be with my parents for a while, when our new baby will be 8 weeks old. We are not sure yet, for how long we are going to stay (but at least a year).

I am wondering now, if I can still get the Baby Bonus for the new baby even though it says on the centre link website, that you cant have it when moving overseas. There is no time frame mentioned either, which would give me an indication what they see as "temporary" or "permanent".

Has anybody been in this situation?

Thanks!

[christen]

I havnt been in that situation before but dp and i were talking the other day and said that if we were to have another baby we would stay in australia long enogh to get the baby bonus and then move back to NZ! sneeky i know, but if you lodge for the money and then go overseas, how are they to know that you are not just going for a really long holiday? lots of people go awawy for a short time and stay longer than intended.

I wouldnt tell them if i was you.

[Princess_Alisa]

The only problem is that I could also get a monthly benefit in my home country once we are there, but only if I cancel the TAX BENEFIT payment from Centrelink here before. I have to do that 8 weeks after applying for the Baby Bonus. So then they might say "hang on, you are leaving now, so you have to pay it back".

My DH and I are running a small business here which will still be running while we are away and obviously we are paying tax here as well. So I think that we would be entitled to get the money, don't you think? But the question is, what do THEY think..

[christen]

Maybe you should call an accountant, i wouldnt call centrlink yet because they they record everything and there might be a loophole you work with, but if they know everything you are planning before you do it centrelink might come up with something new!!! have a look in your local paper/yellowpages for an accountant and just ask to speak them over the phone. I would be trying to find out, its alot of money to NOT have if you are going overseas!!! But if you are paying tax on a business you should be entitled to it, but your right, thats what we think not what they think!!

[cwsmum]

You could call centrelink and just not give them your name or any other details. They don't need to know who you are if you are just asking a general question, I've called and asked stuff before without telling them who I am.

[Princess_Alisa]

Well, I rang them a while ago and the woman I was talking to could not give me a real answer to what time frame they consider as "permanent". She just asked if the baby would be born in Australia, I said "yes" and she said that I would get the baby bonus then.

People are going overseas all the time, temporarily or sometimes permanently. But what if they don't know that by the time they are applying for the baby bonus, then their circumstances change and they are moving to an other country half a year later. Would they have to pay the money back? On the government website it only says, no money when you intent to leave Australia permanently. But wouldnt that mean that we all had to sign a contract with the Government promising that we will stay here forever??

I will definitely apply for it and try not to spend it :rolleyes: until we cancel the tax benefit, in case they say we have to pay it back. But hopefully I'll get to keep it :p

[Chickadee]

I'm not a lawyer nor tax specialist. But I'm guessing that Australia and New Zealand have reciprocal tax agreements. I fall under one of these for Canada and Australia. What that means is that you have to decide which country you are going to be 'resident in for tax purposes'. That is why if you want to claim tax benefit in NZ you have to cancel it here first.


On the government website it only says, no money when you intent to leave Australia permanently. But wouldnt that mean that we all had to sign a contract with the Government promising that we will stay here forever??
Not necessarily. But you would have to keep Australia as your permanent residence for tax purposes. Which means that Australia gets first chance at taxing any income you earn anywhere in the world. You would get credit if you'd already paid tax in NZ on income there, but you'd have to report it to Australia too.

When I left Canada there was a form to fill in to determine residency status. I'm sure Australia woudl have a similar one. Things like maintaining businesses, postal addresses, bank accounts, family connections, are all taken into account when deciding residency status.

[Lastcenturymum]

I havnt been in that situation before but dp and i were talking the other day and said that if we were to have another baby we would stay in australia long enogh to get the baby bonus and then move back to NZ! sneeky i know, but if you lodge for the money and then go overseas, how are they to know that you are not just going for a really long holiday? lots of people go awawy for a short time and stay longer than intended.

I wouldnt tell them if i was you.

Because you have to tell them when you leave the country and get a visa based on how long you will be or intended to be in the new country. And not telling them will cause you more grief in the long run, possibly.

I think if you have the bub here, you will probably be ok though to still get it

We have gone thru all this and had to make sure we own nothing and aren't members of anything back in Oz. We do have a family trust, but as we aren't earning Aussie dollars we don't get taxed. We are still renting a house there though as I will be back and forwards a bit

Now just going thru all the paperwork here to get stuff organised and onto my husbands bank accounts etc which he had set up in advance.

I hope you like filling out paperwork!!;)

[MCNmummyof2]

surely if you have the bub here you can claim it. Maybe just opt to claim family assistance at the end of the financial yr or something, that way you only get what you are entitled to

[leane7]

I am totally confussed with this topic? What baby bonus are you talking about? If you are talking about the $4133 lump sum that you can claim for a newborn, there should be no problem getting that. Every baby that is born in Australia to Australian residents/citizens is entitled to this payment & it has to be claimed by 26 wks after the birth of the child. If you are planning to leave after the child is 8 wks old then I do not see the issue here, you should be able to claim the bonus straight after the birth & it will be in your account within 4 wks, therefore you would have the money before you leave. Or are you talking about some other baby bonus?

[Princess_Alisa]

I am totally confussed with this topic? What baby bonus are you talking about? If you are talking about the $4133 lump sum that you can claim for a newborn, there should be no problem getting that. Every baby that is born in Australia to Australian residents/citizens is entitled to this payment & it has to be claimed by 26 wks after the birth of the child. If you are planning to leave after the child is 8 wks old then I do not see the issue here, you should be able to claim the bonus straight after the birth & it will be in your account within 4 wks, therefore you would have the money before you leave. Or are you talking about some other baby bonus?

Hi Leane7, yes, I am talking about the $4133 lump sum payment. As my husband is Australian, I am permanent resident and our children have and will have australian citicenship, we should be entitled to get the money. But on the centelink website it says, that if you are leaving Australia permanently or in some cases temporaily, you are NOT entitled to get this money. Here is the link http://www.centrelink.gov.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/cc_os_maty.htm

I am just confused..

[leane7]

Ok, thanks for that I understand now. I wouldnt even bother to tell them that you are planning to leave Australia when your baby is 8 wks old. I do not see how it can make a difference. You should be entitled to the money just as everyone else is. If you do leave leave after your bub is 8 wks & you have recieved the money by then if I were you I would say that it wasn't actually planned like that. I doubt that they can take the money back from you & from the way it sounds you do not have an exact idea of how long you are leaving Australia for, you could go somewhere for a weeks holiday, love it so much & then never come back (just an example). All these rules they make are just so stupid. Good luck & I hope it all works out for you.

[jellybellybean]

Just thought you should know that Centrelink performs data matches with Department of Immigration ( and ATO, etc) so they do know when you leave the country and I assume they would transfer through the info that you complete on the immigration card, such as whether your departure is temporary or permanent. They have also starting adding on a 10% recovery fee for debts that have been deliberately and fraudently incurred.

[Kylles]

Yes you can get the payment. We moved to Sweden when my baby was only 9 weeks old. You may also be entitled to Family Assistance payments for upto 3 years while you are away, but I see that you have to cancel that????!!! (could still be worth looking into).

You make your claim for the Maternity Payment when you baby is born and you will also need to notify Family Assistance that you will be temporarily leaving the country at least a month before you plan on leaving, you will need to leave them a forwarding contact address etc and maybe a contact in Australia. Also don't forget to notify Medicare you are leaving...

We were up front with the government agencies from the outset and found that they were nothing but helpful to us, and our payment was never questioned.

Good luck.

[Princess_Alisa]

Thanks for your replies!

I will definately apply for it and when I have to cancel the TAX benefit a few weeks later and someone questions me about the baby bonus money, then I can also say, that family circumstances have changed and we have to go overseas now.

Aussie_Swede, I am glad I have an example now of getting the payment even though you went overseas. I am not interested in the Tax benefit money and I think if I stay in an other country and get some similar benefit there it would be a little cheeky to get it from both countries. In my case I have to cancel it here and bring proof of it in my home country, because otherwise I would not get the Tax Benefit there and there is also the health insurance linked to it (different system than in Australia). But I see the Baby bonus as a lump sum payment as a complete different topic and think that everyone, who gives birth to an Australian Citizen (or permanent resident) should get it, regardless if you go overseas or not.

jellybellybean, thanks for the info, I thought they would do something like that. And that's why I will tell them the truth that we are going overseas at the time of the cancellation of the Tax Benefit, which is 8 weeks after application of the baby bonus. So I can just hope that they don't question me about it like in Aussie_Swede's case. But I won't spend the money just for in case I have to give it back:no:

[sweetkatie]

hello what country you going to?

[nazeer]

hello what country you going to?

Hi,
I am aus resident, currently i am in USA for a short while, we had a baby in US, and i claimed baby bonus, centerlink office send me a letter to get TFN for my wife to claim the baby bonus, i got that and submitted to center link, its almost 4 weeks now when i called then they it will take 8 weeks for international claims and they told that they are very busy, so any one has been in this situation and any comments on this process
thanks