Firstly I should explain that Centrelink is an Australian government agency that deals with various payments to people, from pension to disability to unemployment. We’ve been receiving a few payments from them over the years for family tax benefits. We normally receive this fortnightly as opposed to a lump sum at the end of the financial year. This isn’t the only payment but the only one in question at the moment.

Back in 2001 we temporarily moved overseas, starting just after the beginning of the financial year in July. We returned the following June, just before the end of the financial year. Once we were gone for six months, those payments stopped. After three attempts to go into Centrelink, I did finally get them restarted upon our return. Not quite sure why it took three goes to get it done but it was backdated to our return date. After that, I thought it was all sorted out and we wouldn’t hear about it again.

I got a letter from Centrelink late last week saying they had overpaid us and we have to repay just under $500 before the middle of next month. The only explanation was that they had reviewed our income and personal circumstances and discovered this. I stewed about this over the weekend, tried to call this morning to sort it out, then went in when the phone line was constantly busy. I finally got called up and the woman asked me the problem. I asked her to look at the letter and explain. She laughed and said it didn’t matter how many years it was, Centrelink would collect attempt to collect a debt even after 100 years. I must admit that this didn’t make me laugh.

After several minutes looking through the files and reviewing our case, she couldn’t work out a reason why our benefit would change. She said she was referring it to some other department who would contact me by phone within the next three working days.

Now it’s rather interesting that the ATO is connected because I had to suddenly fill out forms on the ATO website saying I wasn’t required to file taxes for several of the years between 2000 and 2011. The only year that didn’t require this was 2005. I have no idea how that wasn’t needed. I have no idea why I had to file these forms at all, in fact. Except perhaps for the 2011 year when I did work but didn’t have tax withheld and earned an amount well under the taxable threshold. It just happens that I completed all these forms online,  about a day before this letter was generated, and it did include the year in question. As to why this would have affected our family tax benefit, I couldn’t say. The family income did not change in any way.

My theory is the Centrelink letter was triggered in some way by this updated information and that is surely is a mistake because there has been no change to the income reported in this family in all these years. I am curious to see if they really do follow up within the time frame required too.