any oz mums claimed baby bonus?

H

hongkong0

Registered User
i gave birth in HK in Feb this year, and as far as I know I am not entitled for a baby bonus, but someone said they know a friend who claimed it even if baby was born overseas, as they had a property in Oz.
does anyone know about this?
 
I looked at several overseas forums, people were saying that the baby needs to return to Aus before 26 weeks and you need to show intention to stay permanently to claim the bonus. I don't really think that property trick will work. It sounds a little illegal to me.
 
I also looked into this as our baby is due in December and we are returning to Australia permanenty by March 2009 (we also have property). I was looking on the Centrelink website and it is very confusing. I have asked my step-mother who is a manager at Centrelink to follow up for me. She did seem to think it was very unlikely we would qualify.

I will let you know what I hear back.
 
I have been meaning to chase this up to see if I was entitled too. My baby was born in April 2008 here in HK. Will be interested to hear what your step mother says karmah1.

Belinda
 
I asked a friend who works at centrelink & she seemed to think that expats are eligible if they've been out of australia for less than a certain period of time (3 years, i think, but i can't remember - i'd been out too long!). might be worth an email or phone call to centrelink to confirm.
 
I'd rather NOT claim it and not have to worry about paying Australian tax!! I figure I'm not paying for other people's baby bonuses, so it's only "fair" that we don't claim it. We've been non-residents for 2 years already and don't plan to move back for another couple of years... You can maybe "squeeze" around it somehow and get it anyway - but I figure if you're trying to make out that you're eligible, you kinda have to claim that you ARE residents - and then you'd also have to pay Australian tax as well. It's not worth the risk, in my opinion!! You can't have it both ways, take the benefits but not pay the costs.
 
thanks everyone,
looks like I can't claim it, although I am paying Oz tax every year from rental income on my property. but haven't been back for many years, and my girl is already 8 months old.
 
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