Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) This section applies if a lump sum of any of these categories of social security payments becomes due to you because of your partner's death.
Category of social security payment |
Age pension |
Carer payment |
Disability support pension |
Special needs age pension |
Special needs disability support pension |
Special needs wife pension |
(2) The total of the following are exempt up to the * tax - free amount:
(a) the lump sum payment;
(b) all other payments that become due to you under the Social Security Act 1991 during the bereavement lump sum period.
(3) This is how to work out the tax - free amount :
Method statement
Step 1. Work out the payments under the Social Security Act 1991 that would have become due to you during the bereavement lump sum period if:
(a) your partner had not died; and
(b) your partner had been under * pension age; and
(c) immediately before your partner died, you and your partner had been neither an illness separated couple nor a respite care couple.
Step 2. Work out how much of those payments would have been exempt in those circumstances.
Step 3. Work out the payments under the Social Security Act 1991 or Part III of the Veterans' Entitlements Act 1986 that would have become due to your partner during the bereavement lump sum period if:
(a) your partner had not died; and
(b) immediately before your partner died, you and your partner were neither an illness separated couple nor a respite care couple;
even if the payments would not have been exempt.
Step 4. Total the payments worked out at Steps 2 and 3: the result is the tax - free amount .
Example: You are receiving a disability support pension of $300 a fortnight and a pharmaceutical allowance of $5 a fortnight. You are over pension age. Your partner is receiving a jobseeker payment of $250 a fortnight and rent assistance of $75 a fortnight.
Your partner dies. Seven instalments are due to you during the bereavement lump sum period. You work out the tax - free amount as follows:
Step 1: The instalments that would have become due to you during the bereavement lump sum period are:
The total for the period is $2,135.
Step 2: The exempt component of each instalment is $5. The total for the 7 instalments is $35.
Step 3: The instalments that would have become due to your partner during the same period are:
The total for the period is $2,275.
Step 4: The tax - free amount is:
