Total entitlements paid for Working for Families tax credits

In the 2025 tax year, Working for Families tax credits (WFF) came to a total of $3,308 million. This number is an 8.0% increase from the 2024 tax year and follows 1 April 2024 changes to the Family Tax Credit and Best Start Tax Credit entitlements, and a 31 July 2024 increase to the In-Work Tax Credit.

This graph has 2 lines the first shows the total entitlements paid for all WFF between 2003 and 2025, the second shows the total entitlements of the Family Tax Credit (FTC) paid between 2001 and 2023. The vertical axis shows the total entitlements paid in dollar millions. The horizontal axis shows the income tax years between 2001 and 2022. In 2001, entitlements to WFF totalled $1,037 million. For the next 4 years, total entitlements fell year on year to total $932 million in 2005. Between the 2005 and 2010, entitlements paid for WFF increased to $2,751 million. From 2010 to 2018, total entitlements to WFF declined year on year to $2,238 million in the 2018. Between 2018 and 2020, total entitlements increased to $2,928 million. Entitlements to WFF increased in the 2023 tax year and totalled $2,947 million.

The above graph shows the total entitlements paid for WFF between the 2003 tax year and the 2025 tax year. The total entitlement paid increased from $997 million in the 2003 tax year to $2,751 million by the 2010 tax year, following changes in the WFF entitlements during this period and the introduction of the In-Work Tax Credit (IWTC) in 2007. Between 2010 and 2018, total entitlements for WFF declined to $2,238 million in 2018, with the decline reflecting abatement of entitlements as incomes grew. Following 1 July 2018 reforms to WFF and the introduction of the Best Start Tax Credit (BSTC), total entitlements to WFF increased to $2,937 million by the 2020 tax year.

Entitlements to WFF increased in the 2025 tax year and totalled $3,308 million.

The increase in total WFF expenditure in the 2025 tax year follows changes to WFF entitlements on 1 April and 31 July 2024. Refer to the downloadable dataset for information on historical WFF parameter settings, including tax credit rates and abatement settings.

Following the increases to entitlements on 1 April and 31 July 2024 , the average amount of annual WFF paid per family increased from $ 9,259 in the 2024 tax year to $9,828 in the 2025 tax year.