Child Care Subsidy Calculator

Calculate Child Care Subsidy and Net Fees

Child Care Subsidy (CCS) is the Australian Government contribution to eligible childcare fees. The estimate separates that contribution from the household’s remaining expense.

Daycare, before-school and after-school care use the selected service’s hourly cap. Gross fees equal the hourly fee multiplied by charged session hours. Attendance hours can be shorter than charged hours.

CCS applies the percentage to the lower of the hourly fee and applicable hourly cap, for available subsidised hours.

The example starts with income of $88,520 and 40 hours at $18. Gross fortnightly fees are $720. The $15.19 cap produces an eligible fee base of $608.

At 90%, estimated subsidy is $547 before withholding. Withholding of 5% leaves $519 paid to the service and a $201 cash gap. Cost before withholding is $173.

Save the original care scenario, then change income or fees. Compare both sets of amounts below and carry the cash gap into the household budget planner.

Apply Income Thresholds and Eligibility Rules

Ordinary CCS uses combined family adjusted taxable income. A single parent enters their own adjusted taxable income. A partnered household includes both partners’ amounts under the Services Australia income rules.

Adjusted taxable income can include reportable superannuation contributions, investment losses and foreign income as well as taxable income. Child support paid can reduce it.

The selected subsidy table controls the percentage. The hourly cap and available hours control the eligible fee base. Withholding changes payment to the provider without changing the percentage.

Eligibility remains a supplied assumption, covering approved care, fee liability, residence and immunisation requirements. Selecting ineligible shows full fees and zero subsidy.

Include every CCS-eligible child aged five or under, oldest first, even with zero charged hours. For twins, enter the official standard-rate child first. Younger eligible children use the higher-child rates.

School attendance or age six selects the school cap. Recognised home schooling counts as attendance. Keep school status during holidays. In Home Care uses one family fee and the standard percentage.

Additional Child Care Subsidy (ACCS) has separate approval conditions. Child wellbeing, grandparent and temporary financial hardship categories cover actual fees up to 120% of the hourly cap.

Grandparent support requires eligible income support and at least 65% of ongoing care. Child wellbeing support needs a certificate or determination.

Temporary financial hardship follows an approved event and can cover up to 13 weeks per event. Transition to Work needs recognised work, study or training.

Transition to Work uses 95% of the lower of actual fees and the cap, with its income and activity conditions. Enter approved hours and only approved sessions.

The Transition to Work income limit follows the selected schedule’s lower income threshold. The current choice includes that threshold. Earlier choices require income below it.

Under the ACCS rules, withholding and annual income balancing do not apply to ACCS. The category replaces ordinary CCS for that care.

Choose the Schedule and Care Location

Select the period when care occurred. The 2020, 2022, 2024, 2025 and 2026 choices each use their own income thresholds and hourly caps.

These choices cover the stated periods only. The 2020 choice begins after the temporary pandemic free-care period. It includes the former annual cap where family income exceeds $189,390.

Enter subsidy already used for each child in that CCS year. The remaining $10,560 cap limits further ordinary CCS. Later supported schedules have no annual subsidy cap.

The 2022 schedule adds 30 percentage points for a qualifying younger child, capped at 95%. The 2024 and later schedules use separate higher-child income bands.

Enter approved subsidised hours remaining after hours used elsewhere. Earlier activity tests can yield 24, 36, 72 or 100 hours. Eligible families have at least 72 hours from 5 Jan 2026.

NSW, Queensland (QLD), Victoria and the other states use the same federal CCS income table. Location does not change that rate. Separate state preschool programmes can reduce the remaining expense.

Child Care Benefit and Child Care Rebate ended when CCS replaced them in 2018. Those former schemes need their own historical records. None of these CCS choices calculates them.

Reconcile the Estimate With CCS Payments

Actual CCS payments depend on reported sessions, approved circumstances and later income balancing. Match gross provider invoices to subsidy records, bank payments and any later credit or debt.

Centrelink-labelled and Goodstart-labelled calculators can use the public CCS formula. This local estimate uses supplied fees and assumptions. An account determination or provider quote is a separate record.

The CCS subsidy percentage measures the eligible fee contribution. A care percentage used in child support measures time in care and belongs to the separate child-support calculation.

The balancing panel models one ordinary-CCS child, one schedule and one unchanged standard or higher-child category. Enter the annual eligible fee base after hourly caps and eligible hours.

For changing schedules or rate categories, calculate each period separately before comparing the combined entitlement with actual payments. Do not use the income-balancing panel for ACCS.

At final income of $100,000, $20,000 of eligible fees produces $17,541 of entitlement under the default schedule. Against $16,000 actually paid, the possible credit is $1,541.

With $800 withheld, that credit contains up to $800 of withholding refund and $741 of extra subsidy. Withholding is already inside the adjustment and is never added twice.

A negative adjustment is a possible debt. The estimate excludes other debts, recovery deductions and changes in eligibility. Compare it with the Services Australia balancing determination.

Apply Supported Kindy and Preschool Fee Relief

The Queensland Free Kindy mode estimates a reduction in the household’s expense for an eligible child in an approved funded enrolment. It uses uniform hourly fees for long day care.

Enter gross fees and CCS actually paid for the same care period. CCS is deducted first. Queensland relief then covers the remaining gap for funded programme hours, leaving other care payable.

Queensland child eligibility requires the child to be at least four by 30 Jun in the kindy year. The approved programme covers 15 hours weekly over 40 weeks.

Funding applies to one approved enrolment at a time. Subtract hours funded elsewhere. Limit remaining funded weeks to 40, and enter zero once the annual allocation is exhausted.

In the example, 40 fortnightly hours at $12.50 costs $500. After $285 of CCS paid, the gap is $215. Funding for 30 hours reduces it by $161, leaving $54.

The Queensland worked examples use this order, including the effect of CCS withholding. Relief applies during funded weeks, with other weeks retaining the ordinary gap.

NSW and Victoria preschool support has separate programme conditions. This mode calculates Queensland Free Kindy only and shows zero Queensland relief for another location.

A Free Kindy funding calculator estimates fee relief. A kindergarten start-age calculator answers a schooling question. Provider price lookup and provider grant administration sit outside this expense model.