A farmer wants to give away a significant asset he believes will affect his payments under the assets test. He wants to know how to notify Centrelink.
Q. Graham
I am unable to drive my tractor anymore and would like to gift it to my son. It is valued at about $10,000. I have not gifted anything in the past and want to know what proof Centrelink needs in order to have it removed from my asset list.
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A. There are a few ways to let Centrelink know you have made a gift that may affect your payments.
First of all, Centrelink advises calling your regular payment line before you make any gift you think may affect your payments. This is to help you make informed decisions about your finances.
You must report the gift to Centrelink within 14 days of making it.
If you regularly report to Centrelink, say for example if your income varies, you must report the gift on or before your reporting date.
If your Centrelink account is linked to myGov, you can sign in to report gifts, sales or transfers there.
You can also report gifts by using the Express Plus Centrelink mobile app or calling your regular payment line.
If you are considering giving any other assets away, it’s worth noting Centrelink’s gifting rules.
The rules are the same for singles or couples.
You can give away $10,000 in one financial year or $30,000 over five financial years – this can’t include more than $10,000 in a single financial year – before it will affect your payments.
Have you ever given away a significant asset? Did it help your payments? Why not share your experience in the comments section below?
Also read: Centrelink Q&A: Can I apply for the Carer Allowance?
Jan Fisher. I understand the $30 in a five year period. What I’d like to know and I’m sure many readers have thought about the same question is.
Question:- If I gift $100K,, after 5 years does the gifting amount revert back to $0 or is $30k taken from the $100K leaving $70k for the following 5 years and so on.
This gifting rule as well as the asset and income testing along with a lower rate for being part of a couple should be abolished and a universal pension established based on age only for ALL Australians. This will avoid rorts and introduce a very simple system that would be far less cumbersome and costly to the tax payer as is the current and extremely complicated system that is broken.