Families could be in for a windfall, thanks to an announcement by the Prime Minister on COVID-19 disaster payments, but the government can't say how much it will cost.
When the payment was introduced in June, guidelines said it was taxable, however in late July Scott Morrison changed that.
"I've made that very clear this morning, back through the system, they won't be taxable. JobKeeper, by the way was. And we are treating this as a disaster in these areas," he said on morning television.
READ MORE: Tony Abbott fined by NSW Police
That led to it not counting towards a family's income estimated used to calculate how much Family Tax Benefit and Child Care Subsidy they would receive.
In a statement, Services Australia which operates Centrelink services told 9News: "The COVID-19 Disaster Payment is a non-taxable payment, therefore people don't need to include the amount as assessable income in their tax returns next year. For the purposes Child Care Subsidy (CCS) or Family Tax Benefit (FTB), families do not need to include this payment in their family income estimate."
Tax accountants have told 9News families could wind up better off at tax time next year, because if they lose work, and receive the payment but have not updated their family income estimate to lower their salary, Centrelink will have underpaid them.
READ MORE: What it's like to work inside a COVID ward in Sydney right now
9News has been told that could mean a payment after tax time next year, or if families lower their income estimate now they could receive more Family Tax Benefit this year.
"It's a double bonus. It's extremely good news for those recipients," Tony Greco from the Institute of Public Accountants told 9News.
So far 1.8 million Australians have received the payment which are now at rates of $430 a week if you lose between 8 and 20 hours work a week, or $750 if you lose more than 20 hours a week.
It has cost taxpayer more than $6 billion.
"It's understandable people may not have realised, the disaster payment is tax-free and its retrospective to the third of June. So you've got a double bonus, it's not taxable for tax purposes nor is it counted towards family tax benefit," Mr Greco said.
READ MORE: NSW records 1599 new local COVID-19 cases, eight deaths
"No-one saw this coming it was always taxable, it's going to cost more coin by the federal government."
JobKeeper payments were taxable for the people who received it, and the government has been criticised because some recipients have been pursued by Centrelink because of over-payments.
"JobKeeper when that was received by a worker it was assessable and counted towards family tax benefit," Mr Greco said.
Neither the Government Services Minister Linda Reynolds, nor the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg would comment publicly on the issue.
