PARENTS who minimise their income to cheat their way out of paying child support will come under increased scrutiny.The Child Support Agency has employed an extra 120 financial investigators so it can investigate 2400 separated parents across Australia each year, four times the previous amount.
General manager Matt Miller said the agency was focusing on parents who lived in "affluent suburbs" but have reported low incomes to pay the minimum child support, which is about $6 a week.
"These parents are not only cheating the child support system, they're cheating their children," Mr Miller said.
The move comes after increased concerns that parents were hiding their income illegally, working for cash-in-hand payments or minimising their income through salary sacrificing for tax purposes.
But parents paying child support are not the only ones under investigation. Those on the receiving end will also be scrutinised.
Mr Miller said the agency had already uncovered cheats through data matches from a variety of sources, including bank statements and tax records.
An extra $3.6 million had been uncovered by the agency this financial year and the additional funding from the Federal Government was expected to deliver $460 million more for children.
Source: www.news.com.au
