Tax payers to receive beefed up tax returns.

Read more on the Budget website.

The Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Relief So Working Australians Keep More of Their Money) Bill secured passage in the Senate on Thursday, with stage one delivering a doubled end-of-year rebate for low and middle-income earners to $1,080, up from $530.

Stage two, for the 2022–23 and the 2023–24 income years, will see the first personal rate of income tax of 19 per cent raised to the $45,000 threshold, up from $41,000. The top threshold for the 32.5 per cent tax bracket will also be raised from $90,000 to $120,000.

The third stage, set for 2024–25 and later income years, will see flatter tax brackets, namely 19 per cent for those earning between $18,201 and $45,000, 30 per cent for incomes between $45,000 and $200,000 and 45 per cent as the highest rate for incomes above $200,000.

With the ATO set to start fully processing 2018–19 tax returns from today, clients eligible for the offset can expect to see the additional credits from 16 July, the official date that the Tax Office expects to start paying refunds.

“The key tip is that to get the tax offset, you have to lodge a tax return, and the earlier you lodge, the earlier you’ll get the tax offset,” said H&R Block director of tax communications Mark Chapman.

“The ATO won’t officially begin to issue refunds until the middle of the month… that will give the ATO plenty of time to add the offset into returns that have already been lodged.

“So, lodging your tax return today should ensure that you get the full offset that you’re entitled to be added to your refund payment.”

Jotham Lian
05 July 2019
accountantsdaily.com.au