Finance Minister Senator Penny Wong on Tue 7.5.2013, announced that the Government would not proceed with its 2012-13 Budget announcement to increase the maximum payment rate of FTB (Family Tax Benefit) Part A by $300 pa for families with one child and $600 pa for families with 2 or more children. For families receiving the base rate of FTB Part A, the increase would have been id=”mce_marker”00 pa for families with one child and $200 pa for families with 2 or more children. The increased FTB was to have come into effect from 1 July 2013. The Minister said the budgetary position meant the Government was not in a position to proceed with the increase.
The Minister said the Government was seeing “very substantial hits to revenue” from what was anticipated and that this financial year, from budget to budget, the Government would get id=”mce_marker”7bn less in revenue than was anticipated this time last year [up from the id=”mce_marker”2bn recently reported by the Prime Minister].
Source: Senator Wong’s interview with Tim Lester on Fairfax Media’s Breaking Politics program, 7 May 2013.
[LTN 85, 7/5/13]