What to do after the birth of our child.

Congrats!  I hope mum and baby are doing well.

It is necessary to declare your spouse details under certain circumstances. The biggest issues revolve around the medicare levy surcharge (ie private health insurance), child support debts and spouse related tax offsets.

Below is an extract from the 2011 income tax return;

Spouse details – married or de facto
If you completed any of the items listed below, and you had a spouse during 2010–11, or if you consent to use part or all of your 2011 tax refund to repay your spouse’s Family Assistance Office (FAO) debt, you must complete Spouse details – married or de facto.
 
We need the information included in this section to assess your tax accurately.

Did you complete any of the following items or do you consent to use part or
all of your 2011 tax refund to repay your spouse’s FAO debt?

T1 Spouse (without dependent child or student) tax offset
T2 Senior Australians tax offset
T3 Pensioner tax offset
M1 Medicare levy reduction or exemption
M2 Medicare levy surcharge – and you printed X in the NO box at E
T7 Superannuation contributions on behalf of your spouse (on the supplementary
section of the tax return)
T10 Parents, spouse’s parent or invalid relative
T13 Entrepreneurs tax offset (on the supplementary section of the tax return)

Also, definition of spouse is;

http://www.ato.gov.au/content/00216880.htm

Your spouse includes another person (whether of the same sex or opposite sex) who:

• you were in a relationship with that was registered under a prescribed state or territory law,
• although not legally married to you, lived with you on a genuine domestic basis in a relationship as a couple.

Thanks for the feedback Michael, much appreciated.

When I found this forum I was amazed at the talent and information available. I particularly admired your recent input into what looks like a tricky situation https://www.propertyinvesting.com/forums/getting-technical/finance/4338851 

I just had to join in.

probably because of the recent flood of spam messages. One spammer had 246 posts up in a matter of hours os I think some of hte replies here have been deleted because they were spam.