Dependant tax offset changed
A new dependant tax offset allows individuals to claim an offset for invalids and carers.
At the start of the 2012-13 financial year, the ATO made some changes to how individuals can claim offsets for dependants when lodging a tax return.
One change is the eligibility age for the dependant tax offset. The offset can now only be claimed for a spouse who was born before 1st July 1952.
These changes also consolidated eight of the existing dependency tax offsets into a single, streamlined and non-refundable tax offset from 1 July 2012. The tax offsets that have been consolidated are
- the invalid spouse,
- carer spouse,
- housekeeper,
- housekeeper (with child),
- child-housekeeper,
- child-housekeeper (with child),
- invalid relative and
- parent/parent-in-law tax offsets.
The new dependant (invalid and carer) tax offset will only be made available to taxpayers who maintain a dependant who is genuinely unable to work due to their invalidity or carer obligations. There are a number of requirements to be met before a taxpayer can claim the offset:
- maintenance of a dependant,
- eligibility of the dependant,
- invalidity or carer obligations,
- income requirements,
- cannot be in receipt of other entitlements