North Coast families will benefit from Coalition’s Education Tax Rebate

July 22, 2010

North Coast families will benefit from an increase in the education tax rebate and an expansion of what expenses can be claimed, Federal MP Luke Hartsuyker said today.

Coalition leader Tony Abbott has announced a Coalition government will improve and expand the existing Education Tax Rebate to help families with the costs of their children’s education and help ease pressure on family budgets. An additional $760 million over the forward estimates will be committed to increasing the amount of the rebate for primary and secondary students and significantly expanding the type of expenses that can be claimed.

“For primary students, we will increase the rebate to up to $500 per year per child in primary school.  Eligible families will be able to claim a 50 per cent rebate for up to $1,000 of eligible education-related expenses for each child in primary school” Mr Hartsuyker said. “For secondary school students, we will increase the rebate to up to $1,000 per year per child. Eligible families will be able to claim a 50 per cent rebate for up to $2,000 of education-related expenses for each child in secondary school.”

Mr Hartsuyker said the Coalition will also expand the types of expenses to which the rebate will apply.  Under the Coalition, eligible expenses will include:

• School fees
• School camps and excursions
• Special education costs for children with disabilities, like dyslexia
• Extra-curricular activities such as music, dance or drama lessons
• Tutoring costs
• Musical instruments required for lessons
• School photos
• Sporting fees and equipment

“The expanded rebate will commence on 1 January 2011 which means that eligible parents will be able to claim the rebate for expenses incurred for the next school year. Labor’s recent extension of the Rebate to cover school uniform costs is welcome, but this rebate extension won’t even start until the 2011-12 financial year meaning parents will not see any money back in their pockets for at least two years.

“Uptake of the Rudd-Gillard Government’s scheme has been poor because it is too narrowly focussed. Labor excluded school fees from the rebate, despite the fact that school fees represent a significant financial burden for parents. The Coalition’s policy will benefit families at all public, private and Independent schools in the electorate.”