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$4,000 additional Work Bonus credit for new Age Pensioner
Article published on: 26-04-2023
My client has just been granted Age Pension. Is he entitlement to the additional $4,000 credit to his Work Bonus income bank or does it only apply to those who were already in receipt of Age Pension when the legislation commenced?
Answer
For the Work Bonus, all eligible pension recipients from 1 December 2022 (commencement date) until 31 December 2023 are eligible to receive the $4,000 increase to their income bank, regardless of whether they were eligible to receive a pension at the time this measure commenced.
Background
Under the Work Bonus, the first $300 of fortnightly income from work is not assessed for the purposes of the pension income test. Any unused part of the $300 fortnightly Work Bonus accrues in the Work Bonus income bank and can be used to offset future income from work.
A one-off $4,000 income credit is added to the Work Bonus income bank for eligible pensioners from 1 December 2022 and throughout the 2023 calendar year. Eligible pensioners include clients who have reached Age Pension age and:
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are receiving an eligible payment as at 1 December 2022
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are granted an eligible payment between 1 December 2022 and 31 December 2023, or
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have their eligible payment cancelled or suspended as at 1 December 2022, but whose payment is restored between 1 December 2022 and 31 December 2023.
Eligible payments are Age Pension, Disability Support Pension or Carer Payment.
Ordinarily, the Work Bonus income bank is capped at $7,800. In addition to the increase in the Work Bonus income bank, the cap will temporarily increase to $11,800 until 31 December 2023. Effective 1 January 2024, any amount in the Work Bonus income bank that exceeds $7,800 is removed and no longer available to offset future income from work.
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