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B22/1994 JUNE 1994 QUARTERLY ADVICES & GROUP CERTIFICATES

Document

DATE OF ISSUE:  15 JUNE 1994

JUNE 1994 QUARTERLY ADVICES & GROUP CERTIFICATES

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction..............................................................3

Associated Departmental Instructions...........................................3

Regulation 45A certification..................................................3

Pensioners For Whom An Advice Will Be Generated................................4

Group Certificates.........................................................4

Group Certificate Production by the NCC..................................4

New Group Certificate Form............................................4

Components for the June Quarterly Advice Mailout.................................5

Group Certificate Production - Indexation of Income & Asset Free Areas............5

Quarterly Advice Processing................................5

Advice Suppression - Exception Reporting................5

Separation of Overseas Cases:........................6

Schedule Reports.................................6

Sequencing And Integrity Of Paragraphs.................6

Joint Advices.....................................6

Client Impact...........................................7

On-line Shares 'Global' Reassessment....................................7

Quarterly Advice Processing - Shares.........................7

MI 'Global' Reassessment.............................................8

Quarterly Advice Processing - Managed Investments..............8

Telephone Allowance - Quarterly Payment.................................8

Quarterly Advice Processing................................8

Rates Of Telephone Allowance..............................8

Advices - General.........................................................9


ADP Processing....................................................9

Timetable.........................................................9

Holding of Daily Advices..............................................9

Despatch of Quarterly Advices..........................................10

Reprint of Selected Advices............................................10

Liaison with Ferntree Computer Centre (NCC)...............................10

Contact numbers....................................................10

ATTACHMENTS..........................................................11

A   Advice Mock-ups.................................................11

B   Group Certificate Form.............................................11

C   Group Certificate Insert.............................................11

D   WA Relocation Insert..............................................11


Introduction

The Department's Quarterly Advices facility has been designed to enhance communication between the Department and the veteran community.  In general, Quarterly Advices are sent in January, March, June and September of each year.

2.This time, the June Quarterly Advice mailout will include the production of group certificates for those age service pensioners who have paid no tax instalments during the financial year.  In 1993, the forms were called 'Statement of Service Pension and Allowances (Group Certificate) - refer para. 11.  Joint mailing of these group certificates will occur where applicable.  In previous years, all group certificates were produced and mailed in an exercise separate from a Quarterly Advice.

3.As well as the production of group certificates, the June Quarterly Advice mailout will incorporate the following events on pay-day 7 July 1994:

.Payment of Telephone Allowance;

.Indexation of income and assets free areas;

.Managed Investment Reassessment;

.Shares Reassessment;

.a copy of the Departmental Service Pension and Taxation brochure; and

.a leaflet for Western Australian clients regarding the relocation of the WA Branch Office.

4.The reassessment processing run and Advice production will be conducted from

the 16-19 June 1994.  A processing timetable appears later in this instruction.  No fortnightly run for deprived assets, 'end period of grace' or Managed Investments will be done prior to the weekend Quarterly Advice run and will therefore not impact on the transactions generated for the Quarterly Advices run.

5.The major reassessment program ("BAL") will be run to reassess cases affected by any of the events above.  Detailed ADP processing requirements will be sent separately to Branch System Support Officers.

Associated Departmental Instructions

6.DI B26/92 outlined general principles covering the issue of quarterly advices.  In addition, System Support Officers have been provided with copies of the rules for this processing run, entitled June 1994 Quarterly Advices & Group Certificates System Rules and Components, which contains details of paragraph wording.

Regulation 45A Certification

7.The Assistant Secretary of both Benefits Planning & Management and IT Applications Branches in Central Office will attest to the correctness of the new data and the programs used to conduct the exercise.  Certificates in the terms of Finance Regulation 45A will be forwarded to the Authorising Officer in your Finance Branch.

Pensioners For Whom An Advice Will Be Generated

8.A quarterly advice is to be produced:

  • where a tax statement of service pension is produced by the mailing house;

  • where the service pension is varied as a result of indexation of the income and asset free areas;

  • where a service pension is varied and the pensioner has shares and/or managed investments particulars recorded in the assessment.

An advice may include one, two or all of the above items.  When an advice is to be produced for a service pensioner who is eligible for telephone allowance, then the applicable paragraph will be included.  NO TA only advices will be produced.

9.The estimated number of advices for this run is 200,000.

Group Certificates

Group Certificate Production by the NCC

10.Some production of group certificates will take place at the NCC and these will be sent to Branch Offices for verification and mailing.  As in previous years, those group certificates which relate to taxable service pensions from which tax instalments have been made during the financial year and those for all education allowances will be printed at the NCC.  Any exceptions will be scheduled and/or processed by NCC and sent to the relevant Branch Office for further appropriate action.  See the System Rules for specific details including requirements for joint mailing.

New Group Certificate Form

11.A new form has been produced to incorporate the Taxation Office's request to include Tax Rebate Codes and to call all of our tax forms 'Group Certificate' whether or not tax instalments have been paid.  Copies of the new form will be sent to each Branch Office for manual processing along with a series of serial numbers.  While it is preferred that the new form is used by Branch Offices, ATO Group Certificates are still valid.  A copy of the new form is at Attachment B.

NOTE: 1  The original and client copy only of the group certificate will be produced.  Schedules of payees by file number will be produced and sent to each Branch Office.  ATO will receive a cartridge and a fiche showing details of taxable clients.  Fiche will be produced for Branch Offices in previous years.

                            2  Tax Rebate Code is not available for manual issues, for those cases with manual methods of assessment and for spouses with cross references.

Group Certificate & Taxation Explanations

12.An explanation of the new group certificate is included in the Quarterly Advice. See System Rules or mock ups at Attachment A for specifics.  A similar explanation, but non personalised, is to be included with Branch Office mailings.  A copy is at Attachment C and will be available on the LAN.  Hard copies will be sent to Branch Offices on request.

13.The Income Support brochure number 18, entitled 'Service Pension and Taxation' is to be included in the Quarterly Advice mailout.  Branch Offices are to ensure that sufficient numbers are available in the Branch to accompany manual service pension Group Certificates.  Contact Central Office for more supplies if necessary.

Tax Rebate For Couples

14.Tax clerks need to be aware that the unused portion of a tax rebate can be used by the person's partner.  Effectively this means that the $3,952 allowable combined income, not including the pension, may be earned by one or both partners.  The tax rebate is calculated to permit each member of a couple to have income equal to half the income free area, but then allows unused rebate to be transferred to the partner.

Components for the June Quarterly Advice Mailout

Group Certificate Production - Indexation of Income & Asset Free Areas

15.A service pensioner who has a taxable pension and has no tax instalments paid from that pension will receive a group certificate under cover of an advice.

16.Advices will also be produced for service pensioners who have no group certificate attached but have had a variation to their pension due to either the indexation of the income and asset free areas or the managed investments and shares refresh, or both.

17.Service pensioners with telephone allowance eligibility will be reminded of the July quarterly payment.  There will be no advice sent to those clients who have telephone allowance eligibility as the only criterion for an advice.  All telephone allowance recipients were advised of the July payment in the March quarterly advice.

18.The effective date for any pension variations and the payment of telephone allowance is

7 July 1994.

Quarterly Advice Processing

19.A quarterly advice will be produced for all service pensioners where a group certificate is printed by Polk, where the pension is affected by indexation of the income and asset free areas (IFA/AFA) or where the pension is varied by managed investment products or shares.  The range of paragraphs, the circumstances under which these will be applied and the paragraph wording are shown in the June 1994 Quarterly Advices & Group Certificates System Rules & Components document.  Mock-up sample advices are at Attachment A.  Printing will take place in Canberra for advices for QLD, SA, WA and TAS and in Melbourne for NSW and VIC.  All enveloping and mailing will take place in Canberra.


Advice Suppression - Exception Reporting

20.As for previous Quarterly Advice exercises, a schedule of cases for which no advice is produced will be forwarded for Branch examination and possible action.

These include:

.service pension reduced to nil;

.client deceased;

.CDB address is "unknown"; &

.cases with system/data integrity problems, including:

-any joint service pension assessments where the data sent to the Advices system contains information for one client only, instead of two.

Separation of Overseas Cases:

21.For any overseas cases, advice letters are to be produced at NCC Ferntree as a discrete batch with a schedule, for addressing and despatch by Branch Offices (chiefly Tasmania BO).

22.Any overseas cases which correspond to circumstances listed in the exception reporting paragraph above will have advices suppressed and be listed in the main exception report.

Schedule Reports

23.A schedule listing all cases for which advices were generated is to be produced for each Branch Office.  It may not be possible to provide the main schedules on microfiche as programming is required.  VSA section will attempt to condense the schedule format to halve the amount of paper used, and paper copies will be sent if fiche is not available.

Sequencing And Integrity Of Paragraphs

24.Paragraphs are to be in the order they appear in Appendix 1, entitled Paragraph Sequencing.  Not all paragraphs will appear in every advice.


Joint Advices

25.The following rules apply for the addressing of advices, as per the Commission submission on Basic Principles for Income Support Advices:

Assmt DescriptionType of AdviceObligation

Methoddetails

01Married, dependant spousejointmarried

02Married, sps eligible SP vetjointmarried

03Married, sps on DSS pensionsinglemarried

04Married, sps not on SP or DSSsinglemarried

05Married, vet on DSS pensionsinglemarried

06Married, vet not on SP or DSSsinglemarried

07Married, sps SP on own no.single eachmarried

10Single veteransinglesingle

11Single vet, widowed/separatedsinglesingle

12Single spouse veteransinglesingle

21Illness sep'd, dependant spouse*jointmarried

22Illness sep'd, sps eligible SP vet*jointmarried

23Illness sep'd, sps DSS pensionsinglemarried

25Illness sep'd, vet DSS pensionsinglemarried

27Illness sep'd, sps SP on own no.single eachmarried

31Not in use?jointmarried

52Rule B widows/otherssinglesingle

53Not in use?singlesingle

58Earnings direct deductionsingle or jointsingle or married

61Hardshipsingle or jointsingle or married

62Loans schemesingle or jointsingle or married

63Hardship and loans schemesingle or jointsingle or married

64War Widow with SP as f/vetsingle or jointsingle or married

80DP onlysingleN/A

98Pension cancellationsingle or jointsingle or married

99Miscellaneous              single or joint              single or married

* where one person is in a medical institution (MI), the advice is to be sent to the address of the other person in the assessment.  NB MOAs 01-31 & 80 are automatic.

NOTE:1) Special Register:  No advices are currently sent to single special register cases.  For married special register cases, a joint advice is to be sent automatically to the address of the person in the assessment who is not special register.

2) Medical Inst - Illness-sep & Special Register cases: No advices are currently sent to single special register cases where the person is also in a medical institution.  For married SP assessments, where a person in the assessment is spec. reg. and in a medical institution, a joint advice is to be sent automatically to the other person in the assessment.

3) Trustee Cases:  Where the partner is trustee, a joint advice is to be sent automatically to the address of the trustee.

Client Impact

26.Approximately 200,000 pensioner households will receive a quarterly advice regarding either group certificates, IFA/AFA indexation, shares and/or MI reassessment.  Advices will include telephone allowance notification where applicable.  Letters to WA clients will include an insert regarding the September relocation of the Branch office.  (See Attachment D for format.)

On-line Shares 'Global' Reassessment

27.A 'Global' reassessment run will be conducted for pay-day 7 July 1994.  The reassessment program will reassess both pre- and post-19 August 1992 shares.  Reassessment of post-18 August 1992 shares may have a direct effect (due to the MI/shares offsetting provisions) on the income assessed for managed investments.

28.There may be increases, decreases or continuations as a result of reassessment.  All shares acquired before 19 August 1992 are 'saved' and assessed under the old rules.

29.Payments which may be affected include service pension, DCAO, GA and RA.

Quarterly Advice Processing - Shares

30.Quarterly advice paragraphs will be produced for service pensioners with shares and a varied pension.  Additional paragraphs regarding the new offsetting provisions will be included where a person has both managed investments and post-18 August 1992 shares recorded in the assessment.

31.The range of paragraphs, the circumstances under which these will be applied and the paragraph wording are shown in the June 1994 Quarterly Advices & Group Certificates System Rules & Components document.  Mock-up sample advices are at Attachment A.

MI 'Global' Reassessment

32.Payments which may be affected include service pension, DCAO, GA and RA.

Quarterly Advice Processing - Managed Investments

33.Quarterly advice paragraphs will be produced for service pensioners with managed investments and a varied pension.  Additional paragraphs regarding the new offsetting provisions will be included where a person has both managed investments and post-18 August 1992 shares recorded in the assessment.

34.The range of paragraphs, the circumstances under which these will be applied and the paragraph wording are shown in the June 1994 Quarterly Advices & Group Certificates System Rules & Components document.  Mock-up sample advices are at Attachment A.

Telephone Allowance - Quarterly Payment

35.The first quarterly payments of Telephone Allowance (TA) were made in July 1992.  Departmental Instruction B25/92 sets out the eligibility criteria and processing guide-lines.  That instruction should be consulted as necessary, but references to processing dates should of course be ignored.

Quarterly Advice Processing

36.Telephone Allowance will be paid to eligible pensioners for pay day 7 July 1994 in the normal way.  A Telephone Allowance (TA) paragraph will be included in an advice where TA is payable.  As previously stated, NO TA only advices will be generated.

37.Cases which have a manual method of assessment (e.g. War Widow with SP, Hardship etc.) and which are eligible for TA will have a 'TA only' quarterly advice generated.  Branches may wish to advise clients of the when notifying of any pension variations actioned manually.

38.The range of 'telephone allowance' paragraphs, the circumstances under which these will be applied and the paragraph wording is shown in the June 1994 Quarterly Advices & Group Certificates System Rules & Components document.  A mock-up sample advice is at Attachment A.

Rates Of Telephone Allowance

39.Three rates of TA are payable; the World War 1 rate, the Base rate and half the Base rate.  The rates of TA are:

.Half Base Rate - $6.80;

.Base Rate - $13.60; &

.WW1 Rate - $42.50.

Advices - General

ADP Processing

40.Detailed information regarding ADP Processing will be issued to State Systems Support Officers in a separate memorandum.  The Systems Support Officers will be issuing a local processing timetable and should be consulted on any matter concerning ADP Processing.

Timetable

41.Key time frames for advices are summarised below.  The first processing run is scheduled to begin on the evening of Thursday 16 June 1994.

DateEvent

Thursday 16 Jun 1994Cut off for pay period 52 (23 June 94)

Thursday 16 Jun 1994 (p.m.)Day 1 processing for pay period 53. Daily advices from this processing to be despatched immediately.

Thursday 16 Jun (pm) to Sat 18 Jun.BAL re-assessment run.

Sun. 19 Jun Quarterly Advices processing runs (including group certificate production).

Mon. 20 Jun until cut-off for pay 53Examiner action on manual schedules for SP;

Examiner action on manual action for group certificates

&

Quarterly Advices progressively lodged with Australia Post from 23 Jun to 30 Jun.

Holding of Daily Advices

42.Cases processed in advance for 7 July 1994 should have the daily advice despatched prior to the Quarterly Advice being sent.

43.Daily payment advices produced after the processing run on 17/19 June 1994 for pay period 53 (7 July 1994), should be held by Branch Offices until confirmation is received from the Quarterly Advices Project Manager in Central Office to release such advices. This will ensure that pensioners who have pension variations processed for pay-day 7 July 1994 will receive their daily advice after the quarterly advice rather than in advance of it.

44.To minimise the number of daily advices to be held whilst quarterly advices are processed, it is suggested that only manual cases (and essential processing) should be processed for pay day

7 July 1994.  General pensions processing should continue unabated but should be submitted for the subsequent pay day ie. pay period 54  - 21 July 1994.

Despatch of Quarterly Advices

45.The quarterly advices will be progressively lodged with Australia Post by the mailing houses in Canberra and Melbourne, during the period 23 June 1994 to 30 June 1994.  As soon as each State's advices have been lodged, the CO Project Manager will advise the appropriate Branch contact officer.

Reprint of Selected Advices

46.Any requests for reprints of individual Quarterly Advices should be referred through Branch Office System Support Officers to the Benefits Application Help Desk on

(06) 289 6216.

Liaison with Ferntree Computer Centre (NCC)

47.The Veterans Services Applications Branch will provide NCC with a schedule of computer runs for this exercise.  Benefits SM&S Section will supply an after hours contact number closer to the processing date.

Contact numbers

48.Any enquiries should be directed to Margaret Crombie in Policy Development & Implementation Section, on (06) 289 6187 or Paul McBow, on (06) 289 6408.  Facsimile messages should be sent to (06) 289 6553.

KAY GRIMSLEY

ASSISTANT SECRETARY INCOME SUPPORT

THIS ATTACHMENT HAS BEEN REKEYED TO ENABLE IT TO BE INCLUDED ON 'THE GENERAL'

GEORGE FORMBY

ELOISE FORMBY

42 HOLLYWOOD BVDE

SILVER SCREEN  2999

Dear Mr and Mrs FORMBY

This letter covers your 1994 Group Certificate and gives you details of your pension payment from Veterans' Affairs.

Group Certificate

If you receive a taxable service pension, you will receive a 1994 Group Certificate.  Please note that this year the Tax Office has asked that the previous Statement of Service Pension and Allowances (Group Certificate) be called Group Certificate, whether or not tax deductions have been made.

If no tax deductions have been made, the Group Certificate has been included with this letter.  Where tax deductions have been made on your behalf, the Group Certificate will be mailed separately.  If your pension is paid direct to a trustee or to an institution or government body, then the Group Certificate will be sent to that person or authority.

You will not have to lodge a tax return if you are:

  • single or widowed and your income, not including the pension shown on the enclosed group certificate, was less than $2288 for the financial year, or

  • married and your combined income, not including the pension shown on the enclosed group certificate, was less than $3952 for the financial year.

You should check the 1994 Tax Pack for more details.

The shaded boxes on your Group Certificate contain details for Tax Office use only.  The clear boxes contain details you will need to include in your tax return, if you have to lodge one.  One of these boxes contains your Tax Rebate Code.  This is needed for you to answer Question 2 in the Tax Pack.  There are some useful notes on the back of the Group Certificate which you should read.

The brochure "Service Pension and Taxation" has also been included to assist you.

Please remember that you should contact your local Tax Office if you have questions about taxation.

Payment Details

The fortnightly rate of pension you will receive from 7 July 1994 is set out below.

PAYMENTS TO GEORGE FORMBY and ELOISE FORMBY

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT $267.90 $267.90

Comprising:

-Service pension265.30265.30

-Pharmaceutical allowance2.602.60

Telephone Allowance

Your quarterly Telephone Allowance of $6.80 each will be paid to you on 7 July 1994 in addition to that fortnight's pension payment.  Your next payment of Telephone Allowance will be on

29 September 1994.  You must tell us if you cease to be a telephone subscriber.

Your Obligations to the Department

Your obligations have been explained to you in previous advices. These obligations still apply, but the relevant income and asset levels may have changed.  These are shown below.

Your service pension is paid under the income test at the maximum rate.  You must tell the Department within 21 days if your combined income (apart from Veterans' Affairs pensions) rises above $152 a fortnight. You must also tell us if the value of your assets rises above $160,500.

You can do this by telephoning or writing to us or by visiting any Department of Veterans' Affairs office.  If you telephone, we may ask you to confirm information in writing or to send us certain documents which are related to the matter.

If you do not tell us of these changes you may be overpaid. Penalties apply for failing to fulfil your obligations or for providing false or misleading information. The authority for this obligation is under Section 54 of the Veterans' Entitlements Act.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If so, we will send you another letter as soon as the change has been finalised.

If you have any questions about any of the above matters, please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

G K Stonehouse

Deputy Commissioner as

Delegate of the Secretary

CLAUDE MONET

MARIE-LAURE MONET

WATERLILY AVE

GARETTE  5901

Dear Mr and Mrs MONET

This letter covers your 1994 Group Certificate and gives you details of your pension payment from Veterans' Affairs.

Group Certificates

If you receive a taxable service pension, you will receive a 1994 Group Certificate.  Please note that this year the Tax Office has asked that the previous Statement of Service Pension and Allowances (Group Certificate) be called Group Certificate, whether or not tax deductions have been made.

If no tax deductions have been made, the Group Certificate has been included with this letter.  Where tax deductions have been made on your behalf, the Group Certificate will be mailed separately.  If your pension is paid direct to a trustee or to an institution or government body, then the Group Certificate will be sent to that person or authority.

You will not have to lodge a tax return if you are:

  • single or widowed and your income, not including the pension shown on the enclosed group certificate, was less than $2288 for the financial year, or

  • married and your combined income, not including the pension shown on the enclosed group certificate, was less than $3952 for the financial year.

You should check the 1994 Tax Pack for more details.

The shaded boxes on your Group Certificate contain details for Tax Office use only.  The clear boxes contain details you will need to include in your tax return, if you have to lodge one.  One of these boxes contains your Tax Rebate Code.  This is needed for you to answer Question 2 in the Tax Pack.  There are some useful notes on the back of the Group Certificate which you should read.

The brochure "Service Pension and Taxation" has also been included to assist you.

Please remember that you should contact your local Tax Office if you have questions about taxation.

Changes to the Income Free Area and Assets Free Area

The income and asset limits ("free areas") for service pension have been changed in line with movements in the consumer price index.  Your pension rate has therefore varied.

Shares

Shares have been reassessed for pay day 7 July 1994.  The income and assets values for all your listed shares are detailed separately in this letter.

Payment Details

The fortnightly rate of pension you will receive from 7 July 1994 is set out below.

PAYMENTS TO CLAUDE MONET and MARIE-LAURE MONET

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT $266.80 $202.60

Comprising:

-Service pension200.00200.00

-Dependant Child Add-On64.20

-Pharmaceutical Allowance2.602.60

Telephone Allowance

Your quarterly Telephone Allowance of $6.80 each will be paid to you on 7 July1994 in addition to that fortnight's pension payment.  Your next payment of Telephone Allowance will be on

29 September 1994.  You must tell us if you cease to be a telephone subscriber.

Shares and Securities assessed as PRE-19 August 1992 acquisitions.

ShareNo. of AssetDividendIncome

SharesValue (Cents perPer

share)Fortnight

  • CRA LTD.- $1.00 ORDINARY FULLY PAID5,200$32,2407.2129$14.40

  • BROKEN HILL PTY. LTD - $1.00 ORDINARY FULLY PAID3,540$49,6148.5996              $11.70

  • M.I.M. HOLDINGS LTD - $0.50 ORDINARY FULLY PAID1,100$4,9509.1980$3.89

TOTAL PRE-19/8/92 SHARE INCOME FOR PENSION PURPOSES$29.99

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with a decision affecting your rate of service pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a delegate of the Repatriation Commission.  The Delegate may decide the original decision was correct, or may decide to change it.  If the decision is changed, your pension may be increased or reduced.

Any request for a review must be made in writing within three months of the day you receive this letter.  Your letter should state the specific grounds for your request for review.

Your Obligations to the Department

Your obligations have been explained to you in previous advices. These obligations still apply, but the relevant income and asset levels may have changed.  These are shown below.

Your service pension is paid under the income test at less than the maximum rate.  You must tell the Department within 21 days if your combined income (apart from Veterans' Affairs pensions) rises above $797 a fortnight. You must also tell us if the value of your assets rises above $240,000.

You can do this by telephoning or writing to us or by visiting any Department of Veterans' Affairs office.  If you telephone, we may ask you to confirm information in writing or to send us certain documents which are related to the matter.

If you do not tell us of these changes you may be overpaid. Penalties apply for failing to fulfil your obligations or for providing false or misleading information. The authority for this obligation is under Section 54 of the Veterans' Entitlements Act.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If so, we will send you another letter as soon as the change has been finalised.

If you have any questions about any of the above matters, please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

S J Lalor

Deputy Commissioner as

Delegate of the Secretary

GERARD DEPARDIEU

ELIZABETH DEPARDIEU

24 MARCEL PAGNOL AVE

FLORET  2222

Dear Mr and Mrs DEPARDIEU

This letter covers your 1994 Group Certificate and gives you details of your pension payment from Veterans' Affairs.

Group Certificates

If you receive a taxable service pension, you will receive a 1994 Group Certificate.  Please note that this year the Tax Office has asked that the previous Statement of Service Pension and Allowances (Group Certificate) be called Group Certificate, whether or not tax deductions have been made.

If no tax deductions have been made, the Group Certificate has been included with this letter.  Where tax deductions have been made on your behalf, the Group Certificate will be mailed separately.  If your pension is paid direct to a trustee or to an institution or government body, then the Group Certificate will be sent to that person or authority.

You will not have to lodge a tax return if you are:

  • single or widowed and your income, not including the pension shown on the enclosed group certificate, was less than $2288 for the financial year, or

  • married and your combined income, not including the pension shown on the enclosed group certificate, was less than $3952 for the financial year.

You should check the 1994 Tax Pack for more details.

The shaded boxes on your Group Certificate contain details for Tax Office use only.  The clear boxes contain details you will need to include in your tax return, if you have to lodge one.  One of these boxes contains your Tax Rebate Code.  This is needed for you to answer Question 2 in the Tax Pack.  There are some useful notes on the back of the Group Certificate which you should read.

The brochure "Service Pension and Taxation" has also been included to assist you.

Please remember that you should contact your local Tax Office if you have questions about taxation.

Changes to the Income Free Area and Assets Free Area

The income and asset limits ("free areas") for service pension have been changed in line with movements in the consumer price index.  Your pension rate has therefore varied.

Reassessment of Managed Investments & Shares

Managed investment products and shares have been reassessed for pay day 7 July 1994.  The income and assets values for all your managed investments and shares are detailed separately in this letter.

Payment Details

The fortnightly rate of pension you will receive from 7 July 1994 is set out below.

PAYMENTS TO GERARD DEPARDIEU and ELIZABETH DEPARDIEU

TOTAL FORTNIGHTLY PAYMENT $224.10 $224.10

Comprising:

-Service pension190.00190.00

-Rent Assistance31.5031.50

-Pharmaceutical Allowance2.602.60

Telephone Allowance

Your quarterly Telephone Allowance of $6.80 each will be paid to you on 7 July 1994 in addition to that fortnight's pension payment.  Your next payment of Telephone Allowance will be on

29 September 1994.  You must tell us if you cease to be a telephone subscriber.

Managed Investments

Managed InvestmentUnitsAssetRate ofFeeIncome

ValueReturn/DeductionPer

CentsPerFortnight

Per UnitFortnight(Less Fee

Deduction

  • MANCHESTER UNITY

HIBERNIAN FRIENDLY

SOCIETY - S -

FLEXISHIELD BONDN/A$19,136.7-8.100%N/A-$59.61

Ongoing Income Only

  • SCHRODES AUSTRALIA

MANAGEMENT LTD - N -

PROPERTY FUND -

ORDINARY UNITS2,387$5,203.6622.000CN/A$20.19

Income Plus Capital Growth

MANAGED INVESTMENT INCOME FOR PENSION PURPOSES-$39.42

GUIDE TO TABLE

Ongoing Income Only - Income is assessed as it accrues based upon any dividends and any rise or fall in the value of the investment over a 12 month period, and only whilst the investment is held.

Income Plus Capital Growth - In addition to any income distributions that may currently be assessed, capital growth may also be assessable if the investment matures, or it is sold, surrendered, transferred, gifted, or it is fully or partially withdrawn.

Shares and Securities assessed as ON or POST-19 August 1992 acquisitions

ShareNo. of AssetRate ofIncome Per

SharesValueReturnFortnight

  • CRA LTD.- $1.00

ORDINARY FULLY

PAID10,000$12,00025.00%$115.38

  • BROKEN HILL PTY

. LTD - $1.00

ORDINARY

FULLY PAID4,127$50,00020.27%$195.27

  • M.I.M. HOLDINGS

LTD - $0.50

ORDINARY

FULLY PAID218$2184-4.20%-$3.42

TOTAL FEE DEDUCTION AS DEDUCTIBLE INCOME-$57.24

ON OR POST-19/8/92 SHARE INCOME FOR PENSION PURPOSES$249.99

OFFSETTING PROVISIONS

For pension purposes, any fees or negative income included in the assessment of managed investments or shares can be offset against any positive income assessed against ongoing managed investment income or listed shares assessed as acquired on or post-19/8/92.  The total for fees, ongoing managed investment income and income for listed shares assessed as acquired on or post-19/8/92 is shown below.  Note: if this total is negative, no income is recorded for service pension purposes.

  TOTAL INCOME   FROM SHARES ASSESSED AS  ON OR POST-19/8/92 AND

  ANY ONGOING MANAGED INVESTMENT INCOME.$210.57

Shares and Securities assessed as PRE-19 August 1992 acquisitions

ShareNo. of AssetDividend Income Per

sharesValue(CentsFortnight

per share)

  • CRA LTD.- $1.00

ORDINARY FULLY

PAID5,200$32,2407.2129$14.40

  • BROKEN HILL

PTY. LTD - $1.00

ORDINARY FULLY

PAID3,540$49,6148.5996$11.70

  • M.I.M. HOLDINGS

LTD - $0.50 ORDINARY

FULLY PAID1,100$4,9509.1980$3.89

TOTAL PRE-19/8/92 SHARE INCOME FOR PENSION PURPOSES$29.99

Your Right of Review

If you do not agree with a decision affecting your rate of service pension, you may apply to have it reviewed by a delegate of the Repatriation Commission.  The Delegate may decide the original decision was correct, or may decide to change it.  If the decision is changed, your pension may be increased or reduced.

Any request for a review must be made in writing within three months of the day you receive this letter.  Your letter should state the specific grounds for your request for review.

Your Obligations to the Department

Your obligations have been explained to you in previous advices. These obligations still apply, but the relevant income and asset levels may have changed.  These are shown below.

Your service pension is paid under the income test at less than the maximum rate.  You must tell the Department within 21 days if your combined income (apart from Veterans' Affairs pensions) rises above $227 a fortnight. You must also tell us if the value of your assets rises above $290,500.

You can do this by telephoning or writing to us or by visiting any Department of Veterans' Affairs office.  If you telephone, we may ask you to confirm information in writing or to send us certain documents which are related to the matter.

If you do not tell us of these changes you may be overpaid. Penalties apply for failing to fulfil your obligations or for providing false or misleading information. The authority for this obligation is under Section 54 of the Veterans' Entitlements Act.

Changes You Have Already Told Us About

If you have told us recently about a change to your income and assets or your domestic situation, it may not have been processed before this letter was sent.  If so, we will send you another letter as soon as the change has been finalised.

If you have any questions about any of the above matters, please contact this office at the address or telephone number shown at the top of this letter.

Yours sincerely,

G K Stonehouse

Deputy Commissioner as

Delegate of the Secretary

ATTACHMENT B

ORIGINAL

(Tax Code:)(Group No:)(DVA File No:)

(Tax Rebate Code:)(Payment from:)(Payment to:)

(Taxable Pension:)

()

()

ThousandsHundredsTensUnitsCents

Tax Instalments Deducted (words)

Tax Instalments Deducted (figures)$

(Austhorised Person//)(Serial No:)

CLIENT COPY

(Tax Code:)(Group No:)(DVA File No:)

(Tax Rebate Code:)(Payment from:)(Payment to:)

(Taxable Pension:)

()

()

ThousandsHundredsTensUnitsCents

Tax Instalments Deducted (words)

Tax Instalments Deducted (figures)$

(Austhorised Person//)(Serial No:)


ATTACHMENT C

Department of Veterans' Affairs Group Certificate

Your 1994 Department of Veterans' Affairs Group Certificate accompanies this explanation.  Please note that this year the Tax Office has asked that the previous 'Statement of Service Pension and Allowances (Group Certificate)' be called 'Group Certificate', whether or not tax deductions have been made.

You will not have to lodge a tax return if you are:

  • single or widowed and your income, not including the pension shown on the enclosed group certificate, was less than $2,288 for the financial year; or

  • married and your combined income, not including the pension shown on the enclosed group certificate,was less than $3,952 for the financial year.

You should check the 1994 Tax Pack for more details.

If you do need to lodge a tax return, the following information explains the new detail on your group certificate.  The shaded boxes on your Group Certificate contain details for Tax Office use only.  The clear boxes contain details you will need to include in your tax return.  One of these boxes contains your Tax Rebate Code.  This is needed for you to answer Question 2 in the Tax Pack.  There are some useful notes on the back of the Group Certificate which you should read.

The brochure "Service Pension and Taxation" has also been included to assist you.

Please remember that you should contact your local Taxation Office if you have questions about your taxation.


DVA

IS MOVING

The West Australian Branch Office of Veterans' Affairs will be relocating to the AMP Building, cnr William St and St Georges Tce, Perth in September 1994.

Furter information about our relocation will be sent to you closer to that time

DVA

IS MOVING

The West Australian Branch Office of Veterans' Affairs will be relocating to the AMP Building, cnr William St and St Georges Tce, Perth in September 1994.

Furter information about our relocation will be sent to you closer to that time

DVA

IS MOVING

The West Australian Branch Office of Veterans' Affairs will be relocating to the AMP Building, cnr William St and St Georges Tce, Perth in September 1994.

Furter information about our relocation will be sent to you closer to that time