I am a single mother with 2 young children aged 4 and 2. I am recieving single parenting payments (reduced because i will not seek child support) and familly tax benefits. I have a very tight budget but i manage to get by. I dont recieve any other income but centrelink i have chosen to be a stay at home mum for my childrens benifit. I told centrelinlk that i am a non lodger not required to lodge a tax return but was not aware that i also needed to tell the ato. By my understanding because i didnt tell the ato centrelink have demanded all of the payments that i recieved from them needs to be payed back by 2/10/19. And here is the kicker that financial year my taxable income was $0 . (I applied for partnered parenting payment in jan 18 the clame was not processed untill july18) i can assure you my now ex did not make a pile of money either i was entitled to those payments if not more as you are encorage to overestimate. As you can imagin i was incredibly stressed while waiting like a fungus (kept in the dark and fed bull....) for the aproval of my clame i lost an incredible amount of weight as i was almost starving myself worried about eating food that my children should be. My fam tax benifits were enough to just cover my morgage (luckily i live in the stix and my house didnt cost much) so things were verry hard my ex only had casual work. Right now im staring at a debt that is twice my yearly income due in two to three weeks that i was entitle to recieve anyway. Im feeling depressed anxious disapointed fearfull that i will lose my house (it is now not even worth what i paid for it 5 years ago and most likely unable to be sold due to the local market). I have been in tears repeatidly over the last 3 days since recieving this notice (yeah and today is my birthday thanks for the gift centre link) juggling the kids while trying to fix this. Waiting on hold for hours trying to talk to centrelink. I was told do my non lodgement with ato and the debt may or should dissapear and also told basically that if my ex does not or has not lodged his retern i will have to pay the debt. Straight away i have contacted the ato i have to now wait 10 days untill they pass it on to centrelink. To see if the dept will be waived. The uncertanty is making me teeter on the edge of a full blown mental breakdown. I feel like nobody even cares. That my integrity is being challanged that they think i am cheeting the government when i have made every effort to do what i am suppose to do and to be honest. I feel like the government just does not care. Have a fair go and get a fair go. (Mr. Morrisson) i guess i am not having a fair go and i dont deserve a fair go. What makes me feel worse is i had a go i was a motel manager before this i worked throughout my last pregnancy and 2 days after a cessarian back at work working ridiculous hours on a pathetic sallary then life just kicked me in the guts and my boss lost his buisness i lost my job and i wasnt paid any redundancy. I am not a dole bludger. Life is just shit.
They just dont care. Give with one hand take with the other. I am only a number. This policy is cruel and inhumane. I am trying to be possitive because i know i was entitled to these payments that i will sort this out and have no debt. But who pays for the suffering it is just wrong. And the absolute wore pat of all this apart from not geting a diffinative answer if the debt will be wavered is that i asked centrelink if i would recieve any letter advissing me that the debt was waived of if and they told me no. The unknowns are killing me. I wonder if all the numbers were crunched weather this policy will have actually have done any thing but cause suffering.