andysarah

hi everyone,

wondering if anyone on here has any experience of getting the 30% childcare tax rebate whilst on a 457 visa. Have been hearing loads of different info and heard today that someone on 457 visa has been advised by centreink to apply for family assistance, childcare benefit and tax rebate, basically just to see the result.

Have been under the impression from their website that to claim these benefits you need to be an australian resident (which you are not on a 457). However, for tax purposes you are classed as an australian resident as are here for most of, or all, the tax year.

Does anyone on BE claim the tax rebate who is on a 457? Interested to know.....

Cheers

Wendy

From the Centrelink website:

To lodge a claim and qualify for Child Care Benefit, you and your child/ren must be:

• in Australia on the day you lodge your claim, and
• an Australian resident - this means you have been living in Australia on a permanent basis and you are either:
  • an Australian citizen, or
  • the holder of a permanent resident visa, or
  • the holder of Special Category Visa - someone who arrived on a NZ passport, or
  • the holder of a particular temporary visa - these are known as "spouse provisional" or "interdependency" or "temporary protection" visas.

http://myaccount.centrelink.gov.au/w...h0bQ!!#7_0_7FK


So no a 457 is not the right visa for this benefit as it is not a PR visa, nor is it one of the special visas mentioned. The other benefits that a PR visa holder would be able to claim like Family Tax Benefit all say the same, so there's no point applying for them either. Sorry

andysarah

Hi Wendy,

Well, thats what i thought too. Seems to be quite clear, need to be eligible for ccb. We are on a 457 and before we came we knew that we couldn't claim anything, but as i say, was talking to someone today on a 457 who has been advised by centrelink and the childcare centre to apply as it is a tax rebate. You sometimes get the strangest info from people who should actually know as it is their job!

S x

Wendy

Yup, you'd think the person at centrelink would know, they must have been off sick the day they were teaching them about different visa's. Maybe someone should refer them to the website.

northernbird

The person you were talking to were fed duff information. We spent 2.5 years on a 457 and couldn't claim didly squat! When we eventually got PR we had to provide copies of our visa when we submitted our claim.

Russ_Sarah

on the other hand..on a 457 visa arnt you able to claim LAFHA (living away from home allowance)...

it is my understanding that you can claim tax back on rent/food and other living expenses whilst on the visa..it has to come via your employer but if you had a word maybe childcare could be deemed to be at least tax reimbursable...

dont know..but it might be worth asking.

northernbird

LAFHA is something to be negotiated with your contract. It is not a given right as a 457 holder and a lot of employers don't offer it.

smoggieswilltravel

Hi

Really try and get the LAFH allowance it makes a VERY big difference to your take home pay.