2018 Budget Update

The Government handed down the 2018/19 Federal Budget on Tuesday 8th May 2018.  Some of the important proposals include:

• The introduction of the ‘Low and Middle Income Tax Offset’, a temporary non-refundable tax offset of up to $530 p.a. to Australian resident low and middle income taxpayers for the 2019 to 2022 income years.  This offset will apply in addition to the Low Income Tax Offset.
•  Providing tax relief for individual taxpayers by progressively increasing some of the tax brackets (including an increase in the top threshold of the 32.5% personal income tax bracket from $87,000 to $90,000 from 1 July 2018), and eventually removing the 37% tax bracket entirely.
• The $20,000 immediate write-off for small business will be extended by a further 12 months to 30 June 2019 (i.e., for businesses with aggregated annual turnover less than $10 million).
• From 1 July 2019:
  • Increasing the maximum number of allowable members in an SMSF from four to six members;
  • Ensuring that unpaid present entitlements (or ‘UPEs’) come within the scope of Division 7A; and
  • Denying deductions for expenses associated with holding vacant residential or commercial land.