The cost of the holiday reduces Bruce and Shelley’s assets to $815,000 so they continue to receive a small part pension and the pensioner concession card. However, by splurging on an expensive holiday, they’ve eaten into their retirement savings. There may be more sensible ways they can reduce their assets such as contributing to super.
Bruce and Shelley giving $35,000 to their child exceeds the amount that Centrelink lets you gift to people. This means Centrelink will consider Bruce and Shelley’s assets to remain above $816,000. They will receive no part pension and lose the pensioner concession card.
Centrelink will allow a single person or married couple (combined) to gift up to $10,000 per financial year and capped at $30,000 over a rolling five-year period without it being assessed under the assets test or included as a financial asset under deeming for the income test.
By spending $35,000 on a holiday, Bruce and Shelley reduce their assets to $815,000 so they can continue to receive a small part pension and the pensioner concession card. But they’ve eaten into their retirement savings and there may be more sensible ways to reduce their assets such as contributing to super.
