I received a letter on MyGov a month ago requiring me to confirm my income for July 2017 to June 2018 - the period I was receiving Youth Allowance while studying and working part time. Didn't think too much of it, so filled out the form online and agreed to proceed with confirming my income using my PAYG Summary for the 2018 FY from the ATO.
Fast forward a couple days, and was issued a debt for the entire amount I was paid during the eligible youth allowance period of $1350 - Centrelink are very quick at issuing debt! Centrelinks results explanation said I reported $19,700 to them during the youth allowance period, and my actual income was $21,500 - it looked as though my $25,500 income for the entire financial year was divided by 26 weeks and my payments during the year were deemed ineligible for my income. However, as I worked part-time my income ranged from $300 one week, and $800 over the holiday periods. They also included the income I earned on either side of the period I received Youth allowance in calculating my average fortnightly income. Even income I received during a 10 day period I was overseas and suspended from receiving youth allowance.
I proceeded to call the Debt recovery line, and had no issues discussing the matter. She told me this is very common to happen when people don't supply anything more than their PAYG Summary. She advised I collect payslips or supply my bank statements for further reassessment. Within a few days, I had sought through bank statements, narrowed down to all the income received from work during entire 2018FY and marked out the income for the weeks outside of my youth allowance eligibility period. My rough calculation of income during the period was less than their original estimate, and so I called again and asked to reassess with what I had uploaded. I was told the debt "decreased by $80" - they averaged out my gross income AGAIN, but using different figures as these were grossed up amounts from my bank statement. I was told to obtain a "payroll transaction history" from my employer for the 2018FY, and so I did.
Fast forward to today, and my exact gross income for the exact eligible period was $20,050 - $300 more than the amount I under-reported ($19,700), but my $1350 was only reduced by a couple hundred dollars. Once again, my income was AVERAGED out for the period. How can I possibly owe back $1350 if my actual income was $300 more than what I originally reported? Every person I have dealt with from Centrelink acknowledged the fact my "income was very sporadic" - so why is it being averaged out throughout the period?
Baffled. Not stopping until the debt is cleared. I have only just requested to have the situation appealed to an authorised review officer, however will take it further to the tribunal if necessary. The fact that Centrelink raise debts so long after the period the payments were received and income was reported is beyond stupid. It's wasted a lot of my time at work and in my spare time being on the phone to them and doing my own calculations to show them where they are going wrong. Its stressing having to think about handing over an entire fortnight worth of pay now, for a time I received payments in a completely different situation.