What is the formula for calculating child support?

There is a basic 8 step formula for parents with only one child support assessment. This is the most commonly used formula.

1. Work out each parent’s child support income. This is a parent’s adjusted taxable income minus a self-support amount and any relevant dependent allowance.
2. Work out the parents’ combined income.
3. Work out each parent’s income percentage by dividing each parent’s income by their combined total.
4. Work out each parent’s percentage of care. This is the amount of care provided by a parent to the child.
5. Work out each parent’s cost percentage. This is calculated using the Care and Cost Table.
6. Work out each parent’s child support percentage subtracting the cost percentage from the income percentage for each parent. This is called the child support percentage and determines if a parent pays or gets paid child support.
7. Work out the costs of each child based on the parents’ combined total income. This is done using the Costs of Children Table.

Work out the total amount of child support payable by multiplying the positive child support percentage by the costs of the child.