For Small Business Entities (Turnover less than $2 Million)
· 1.5 per cent cut in company tax to 28.5 per cent for incorporated small business from 01/07/2015
· 5 per cent tax discount for sole trader, partnership & trust up to $1,000 per year from 01/07/2015
· An immediate tax deduction for each individual asset costing less than $20,000 since 12/05/2015 to 30/06/2017, you can claim multiple $20,000 and it can be second hand. (Excluding Stock or software for your business.)
· New businesses can claim immediate write off on accounting and legal fees on setting up business costs, no cap on this kind of expenses
· Fringe benefits tax exemption for portable electronic devices such as ipad and smart phone
· Primary producers get immediately tax deduction on unlimited capital expenditure on fencing and water facilities since 01/07/2016 and depreciate over three years for all capital expenditure on fodder storage assets
For Families
· $3.5bn to be spent over five years on child care assistance, including a new child care subsidy, to be implemented from 1 July, 2017, based on family income
· Families earning $65,000 or less will receive a subsidy of 85% of their child care fees (up to an hourly cap)
· The subsidy gradually tapers to 50% for families earning less than $185,000
· Families earning $185,000 or more will have a $10,000 annual cap on the total amount of assistance provided per child per year
· To be eligible for the child care subsidy, children must attend an approved child care service and meet immunisation requirements
· The subsidy will be paid directly to child care providers
· Eligibility for the child care subsidy will be determined by an activity test that aligns the hours of subsidised care with the amount of work, training or study done by parents
· ‘Nannies trial’ commencing 1 January, 2016 to provide a subsidy to eligible families on incomes below $250,000 a year designed to help shift workers such as nurses, police, firefighters and ambulance officers
· Extra assistance for vulnerable children, including families experiencing temporary financial hardship
· Removal of “double-dipping” in paid parental leave from 1 July, 2016. Access to parental leave pay will be limited to individuals whose employer does not provide parental leave entitlements. In cases where individuals get less generous parental leave entitlements from their employer, the government will top up the amount paid to be equal to the full amount available under the existing scheme.
For Age pensioners
· The government has proposed changes to age pension eligibility based on the value of assets that you hold outside the family home.
· The value of assets you can have in addition to your family home to qualify for a full pension would increase from $286,500 to $375,000 for couples who are homeowners
· The maximum value of assets you can hold and still qualify for a part pension would be reduced under the changes. At the moment this amount stands at $1.15m in addition to the family home for couples.
· Couples who own their own home and have additional assets of less than $451,500 will get a higher pension
· Couples who don’t own their own home and have assets up to $699,000 in January 2017 will be better off
· Singles who own their own home and have additional assets of less than $289,500 will be better off
· Singles who don’t own their own home and who have less than $537,000 will be better off
· The value of assets you can have in addition to your family home to qualify for a full pension would increase from $202,000 to $250,000 for single homeowners.
·The Government will also reduce the maximum value of assets that can be held to qualify for a part pension.
For couples, this is currently up to $1,151,500 plus the family home. Under the proposed changes, this threshold will decrease to $823,000 plus the family home.
· Pensioners who lose pension entitlement on 1 January 2017 as a result of these changes will automatically be issued with a Commonwealth Seniors Health Card or a Health Care Card for those under Age Pension age.
· Taper rates
The proposal will reverse changes to the ‘taper rates’ introduced in 2007. From 1993 to 2007 a $3 taper rate was in place where for every additional $1,000 in assets above the minimum threshold for a full pension, fortnightly payments were reduced by $3. In 2007, this was changed to a $1.50 taper rate.
· Taxpayers impacted by these changes will be able to maintain their current level of income by drawing down less than 1.84% on their additional assets ($574,000 for a single homeowner), in a worst case scenario.
These measures will apply from 1 January 2017.
Other announcements
· People who enter aged care from 1 January, 2016 will have rental income from renting out their former home included in the calculation of their means test
· The government plans to amend regulation to allow a person with a terminal illness access to their superannuation benefits 12 months earlier than is currently allowed
· $1.2bn in new funding for national security
· Implementation of a Multinational Anti Avoidance Law to stop large multinational companies avoiding tax
· A 10% goods and services tax (GST) on internet downloads in an effort to capture more tax from multinational companies providing downloadable music, movies and books. This has widely been dubbed the ‘Netflix tax’.
· New listings on the pharmaceutical benefits scheme to give subsidised access to more medicines
· Current fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemptions or rebates available for not-for-profit and public health sector workers on
meals and entertainment will now be subject to an exemption cap of $5,000