New financial year: what's in it for you?
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The biggest tax cuts go to Australia's highest earners, who receive up to $41.35 a week. (ABC News: Giulio Saggin, file photo)
The start of the new financial year brings on a range of Government changes, not least of which is the promised round of tax cuts.
The 30 per cent income threshold has been lifted from $34,000 to $35,000 and the 40 per cent tax rate has been cut to 38 per cent.
An individual on $40,000 a year gets an extra $2.88 a week, while someone on $100,000 a year receives an additional $10.58 a week.
Those on $180,000 are the biggest winners, with a $41.35 a week income tax reduction.
Here's a rundown on the various changes that take effect from today.
Tax
- The low income tax offset (LITO) will increase from $1,200 to $1,350. This means the effective tax free threshold for taxpayers eligible for the full low income tax offset will increase from $14,000 to $15,000.
- The 30 per cent marginal tax rate threshold will rise from $34,001 to $35,001.
- The 40 per cent marginal tax rate will be reduced to 38 per cent.
- The amount of income a senior Australian eligible for the senior Australian tax offset (SATO) can earn before they incur an income tax liability will increase from $28,867 to $29,867 for singles, and from $24,680 to $25,680 for each member of a couple.
- The disqualifying asset limits have increased from $555,720 to $562,000 for senior single home-owners and from $882,500 to $891,500 for couples combined.
- Recipients of allowances such as Newstart Allowance, Parenting Payment, Youth Allowance (other), Widow Allowance, and Special Benefit will also benefit from a relaxation to the assets test.
- The Government is tightening rules on people earning money overseas so that tax concessions will only apply to people working for charities, aid organisations or the public service.
Parents, carers
- People on Family Tax Benefit A can claim a 50 per cent refundable tax offset for some education expenses: up to $750 for primary school students and up to $1,500 for secondary school students.
- Parents will be able to claim a maximum of $180 per week on child care, up by $6.50, and the maximum annual childcare rebate rises by $278 to $7,778.
- The baby bonus has been lifted from $5,000 to $5,185.
- An extra 19,000 carers of children with severe disability are expected to qualify over the next 12 months for Carer Payment (child)
Superannuation, investment
- The Government is decreasing superannuation benefits by halving the contribution cap from $50,000 to $25,000 for those under 50 and from $100,000 to $50,000 for those older than 50.
- People with incomes of over $250,000 will only be able to deduct expenses from non-business activities like hobby farms against the income from the non-commercial business activity.
- The Government is tightening rules so that employees who receive benefits such as share portfolios from their employers will have to pay fringe benefits tax.
Same-sex couples
Same-sex defacto couples will be recognised as couples for social security and family assistance purposes, and the couples will be obliged to notify Centrelink of their defacto status.
Industrial relations
The Government's Fair Work Act has come into effect, which the Government says will make the IR system fairer for employees.
Unions have signalled their intentions to push for significant pay-rises under the new regime, and some employers have expressed concern the changes will force up wages too much and make it harder to employ new people.
Health
- A range of medications have been added to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS), including drugs for bowel cancer, HIV, malaria, osteoporosis and chemotherapy side effects.
- The $64 billion healthcare agreement between the Commonwealth and states begins.
- Funding for maternity workforce support and a new Medicare rebate for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans for the initial stages of rectal cancer starts
And a final note for all those people who haven't quite got around to getting their 2007/08 tax returns in, the deadline has now passed to receive your tax bonus payments from the stimulus packages.
If you didn't get your return in by yesterday, you have missed your opportunity to help Australia out of the downturn, at least through retail therapy.
Happy new financial year.
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76 needed to form government
State of the Parties
76 seats required for victory
|
91.7% counted.
Updated Sat Sep 4 07:54PM
|
||||||
| Party | % Vote | Swing | Won | Predict | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor | 38.0 | -5.4 | 72 | |||
| Coalition | 43.7 | +1.6 | 73 | |||
| Greens | 11.7 | +3.9 | 1 | |||
| Others | 6.6 | -0.1 | 4 | |||
Changing Seats
|
91.7% counted.
Last updated Sat Sep 4 07:54PM
|
|||||||
| Time | Count % | Electorate | Held By | Margin | 2PP % | Swing | Predict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14:37 | 93.5 | La Trobe | L/NP | 0.5 | 50.9 | 1.4% to ALP | ALP GAIN |
| 18:22 | 91.0 | McEwen | L/NP | 0.0 | 55.2 | 5.2% to ALP | ALP GAIN |
| 10:36 | 89.0 | Solomon | ALP | 0.2 | 51.9 | 2.0% to CLP | CLP GAIN |
| 18:52 | 83.1 | Melbourne | ALP | 4.7 | 55.6 | 10.3% to GRN | GRN GAIN |
| 17:37 | 94.3 | Denison | ALP | 15.3 | 51.2 | 16.5% from ALP | IND GAIN |
| 15:21 | 91.2 | Bennelong | ALP | 1.4 | 53.5 | 4.9% to LIB | LIB GAIN |
| 13:07 | 92.8 | Gilmore * | ALP | 0.4 | 55.3 | 5.7% to LIB | LIB WIN |
| 18:07 | 92.9 | Hasluck | ALP | 0.8 | 50.6 | 1.4% to LIB | LIB GAIN |
| 16:21 | 92.0 | Macarthur * | ALP | 0.5 | 53.0 | 3.5% to LIB | LIB WIN |
| 11:23 | 92.5 | Macquarie | ALP | 0.3 | 51.2 | 1.5% to LIB | LIB GAIN |
| 18:54 | 90.3 | Swan * | ALP | 0.3 | 52.6 | 2.8% to LIB | LIB WIN |
| 16:53 | 91.5 | Bonner | ALP | 4.5 | 52.6 | 7.1% to LNP | LNP GAIN |
| 17:21 | 89.8 | Brisbane | ALP | 4.6 | 51.0 | 5.6% to LNP | LNP GAIN |
| 11:36 | 92.7 | Dawson | ALP | 2.6 | 52.4 | 5.0% to LNP | LNP GAIN |
| 12:51 | 93.7 | Dickson * | ALP | 0.8 | 55.2 | 5.9% to LNP | LNP WIN |
| 14:36 | 91.1 | Flynn | ALP | 2.2 | 53.5 | 5.7% to LNP | LNP GAIN |
| 15:08 | 91.6 | Forde | ALP | 3.4 | 51.6 | 5.0% to LNP | LNP GAIN |
| 16:06 | 92.4 | Herbert * | ALP | 0.0 | 52.1 | 2.1% to LNP | LNP WIN |
| 16:37 | 90.4 | Leichhardt | ALP | 4.1 | 54.6 | 8.7% to LNP | LNP GAIN |
| 14:21 | 92.2 | Longman | ALP | 1.9 | 52.0 | 3.9% to LNP | LNP GAIN |
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