Shared care family tax credit and Best Start tax credit
For family tax credit purposes, shared care is when family tax credit is apportioned between caregivers.
In a shared care arrangement the apportioned amount of family tax credit payable to the applicant will be treated as chargeable income when assessing Temporary Additional Support.
For calculating standard costs, the full amount of family tax credit is taken into account, even where the client is only entitled to a portion of it.
Example 1
A child aged 10 lives with his mother for 4 days per week and with his father for the remaining 3 days per week. Family tax credit for that child is $151.91 per week (as at 1 April 2026).
The mother applies for Temporary Additional Support and the amount of family tax credit that will be included as chargeable income is:
Family tax credit amount for chargeable income purposes | Family tax credit amount for standard costs purposes |
$86.80 (4/7 of $151.91) | $151.91 |
Example 2
A child born on 10 April 2025 lives with his mother for 4 days per week and his father the remaining 3 days per week. Best Start tax credit is $77.50 per week (as at 1 April 2026).
The mother gets Temporary Additional Support, and the Best Start tax credit included as chargeable income is:
Best Start tax credit amount for chargeable income | Best Start tax credit amount |
$44.28 (4/7 of $77.50) | $77.50 |
Note Best Start tax credit is not included in the standard costs for Temporary Additional Support.
For more information about shared care, see:
Also see:
- Verification of Working for Families Tax Credits [no link find out why]
