Is the $750 Economic Support Payment due from 31st March OR 1st April 2020.
News articles on the 30th March 2020 were stating that around 6.5 million Australians will receive the $750 Economic Support Payment from tomorrow (31st March 2020) as part of the Federal Government’s plan to soften the economic blow of the coronavirus crisis.
Wording such as: “The good news is the cash will start arriving from tomorrow, (31st March), with most people receiving the payment by April 17.”
BUT… tomorrow came, and at least some of those people who were eligible, and who have their normal payment on the 31st March, only received their normal pension payment into their bank account. The extra $750 is not included.
When they said from the 31st March 2020, did they mean from the day after ie: On the 1st April? That would mean those who receive payments on the 31st March will get their $750 with their 14th April payment.
Or is it being done as a second payment, later in the day? That would seem odd.
It is also very difficult to check with Centrelink, as their website is proving inaccessible again, possibly with millions trying to log in and check where their $750 is ?
Update:
Just to keep us confused on who will pay or how we receive it, some news reports have stated it would be the ATO while others say Centrelink will pay the $750, eg:
- The first $750 will start flowing through from the Australian Tax Office to nominated bank accounts via MyGov from 31 March for the first payment, with most landing in bank accounts by 17 April.
- Centrelink will pay you the $750 Economic Support Payment if you get 1 of the following payments: (Age Pension being one of the options)
However, Services Australia (Centrelink) specified: “We’ll pay you the $750 one off Economic Support Payment if you’re living in Australia and get an eligible payment between 12 March 2020 and 13 April 2020. You don’t need to do anything, we’ll pay you automatically. You’ll get the money from 31 March with most getting it by 17 April 2020.”
2nd Update:
The $750 Economic Support Payment is a one-off, tax-free payment. The normal payments, that an eligible person gets (Aged Pension etc), are normally taxable amounts. Therefore I will assume that the $750 will not be added to the normal payment, but sent as a separate payment, so that it is easily distinguished by the ATO as a tax free sum, not to be added to the recipients taxable income.
That would explain why it might come as a separate payment. This does not help with knowing exactly WHEN the payment might be made.
