Child Support

(from the ATO's Business Implementation Guide)

Phase 2 allows (this is optional) a Payer to report Child Support deductions via the STP Report

• Child Support Garnishee – deduction made under a notice as per section 72A of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988. This is a percentage of a payees taxable gross income, a lump sum or a fixed amount each pay until the debt is satisfied

• Child Support Deduction - deduction made under a notice as per section 45 of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988. This is a fixed dollar amount each pay period. Deductions made under section 45 of the Child Support (Registration and Collection) Act 1988 are made subject to a Protected Earnings Amount (PEA).

The Child Support Deduction and Child Support Garnishee amounts:

1. The YTD amounts must only include the deduction or garnishee amounts notified by Child Support and must not include any amounts that may have been deducted upon request by the employee (voluntary child support deductions).
   
   
2. There are special rules for correcting the YTD amounts previously reported for Child Support Garnishees and Child Support Deductions.

The business rules for Child Support corrections are:

1. The normal STP correction framework and rules do not apply to Child Support amounts.  
   
   
2. Once deducted and reported, these Child Support amounts cannot be retrospectively reduced without authorisation from the Registrar.
   
   
3. Once authorisation has been granted, the Payee record may be corrected, resulting in a reduced YTD amount for the Payee and a reduced period amount for the Payer. This correction must be made in the next Pay Event report after the authorisation has been granted.
   
   
4. As the notices specify exact pay periods and amounts, if a Child Support deduction amount cannot be fully withheld due to the PEA limit, any future retrospective additional amounts that apply to this shortfall period must be taken into consideration to address the shortfall. The retrospective additional amounts must be included in the Deduction type-D (Child Support Deduction) YTD amount and the Child Support Total Deductions Amount in the submit action for the additional payment.
   
   
5. However, if the Payer erroneously deducts amounts for a Payee who is not covered by the notice from the Registrar, then the Fair Work obligations apply to enable the Payer to correct the error. The Registrar will need to be notified separately in these instances following existing processes.

Mapping

The Payroll Category used for reportable Child Support Deduction should be mapped as per below:

The Payroll Category used for reportable Child Support Garnishee should be mapped as per below: