Income tax: can participants in the Community Development Employment Program (CDEP) who forego unemployment benefits still claim the Beneficiary Rebate?

No. Money is allocated to community councils who in turn employ participants of their program. Participants who volunteer for these programs forego their entitlement to unemployment benefits in exchange for wages.

As the moneys paid to participants of the program are wages, the payments do not come within the definition of 'rebatable benefit' as defined in subsection 160AAA(1) of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1936.

Only recipients of a 'rebatable benefit' as defined are entitled to a Beneficiary Rebate ascertained in accordance with the Income Tax Regulations.