Small Business
– A cut of 1.5% in the company tax rate for small businesses (turnover less than $2m). This will take the rate for them to 28.5%
– 1.5% tax cut for small companies announced that the current maximum 30% franking credit would still be available to those companies’ shareholders
– 5% discount on the tax liability of unincorporated small business entities
– The $20,000 threshold for the immediate write-off of capital assets, The timing benefit however only applies until 30 June 2017
– CGT roll-over relief for changes to an entity structure
– an immediate deduction for professional expenses associated with starting a new business

GST

– GST applied to Online offshore intangible supplies from 1 July 2017

Individuals

– Work related car expenses to be simplified, 2 methods cents per km and logbook method, only one flat rate of 66c/km will apply.
– 2014-15 income year, the Medicare levy low income threshold for singles will be increased to $20,896
– The Government will change the tax residency rules to treat most people who are temporarily in Australia for a working holiday as non-residents for tax purposes, regardless of how long they are here. This means they will be taxed at 32.5% from their first dollar of income
– Only those graduates living overseas and earning incomes above the minimum HELP repayment threshold (AUD$53,345 in 201415) will be required to make repayments towards their HELP debts.

Families

– Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A will be reduced from 1 January 2016 and recipients outside Australia will only be eligible to receive payments for six weeks in a 12-month period while they are overseas. The FTB Part A Large Family Supplement will be removed from 1 July 2016.
– Eligibility conditions for the Government’s Parental Leave Pay scheme will be tightened, preventing some parents from claiming parental leave payments from both their employer and the Government.
– Eligibility for the new Child Care Subsidy will be based on an activity test and a means test. Families with incomes of up to $60,000 (in 2013/14 dollars) will be eligible for a Child Care Subsidy of 85 per cent of the lesser of the actual child care fees and a benchmark price per child. The subsidy rate will reduce to 50 per cent for families with income of $165,000 and above. The subsidy amount will be capped at $10,000 per child for families with income of $180,000 and above. No cap will apply for family incomes of less than $180,000.

Primary Producers

– Immediately deduct capital expenditure on fencing and water facilities such as dams, tanks, bores, irrigation channels, pumps, water towers and windmills.
– The Government will also allow primary producers to depreciate over 3 years all capital expenditure on fodder storage assets such as silos and tanks used to store grain and other animal feed.

Age Pension

– Age Pension assets test threshold for a single homeowner will be increased to $250,000 (up from $202,000) and $375,000 for a homeowner couple (up from $286,500) from 1January 2017.
– The assets test threshold (or assets free area) for non-homeowners will be increased to $200,000 more than homeowner pensioners, i.e. $450,000 (single) and $575,000 (couple).
– Assets test taper rate at which the Age Pension begins to phase out will be increased from $1.50 of pension per fortnight to $3.00 of pension for each $1,000 of assets over the relevant assets test threshold.
– maximum value of assets that a homeowner couple can hold to qualify for a part pension will be reduced from $1.151m to approximately $823,000 (or $547,000 for a single homeowner instead of the current $775,500)

Super

– Currently, access to benefits using the ‘terminal medical condition’ condition of release requires an individual to obtain certification from two medical practitioners (one of whom is a specialist practising in the area related to the injury or illness) stating they are likely to have less than 12 months to live. This time period is proposed to be extended to 24 months with effect from 1 July 2015.