The 2020-21 Federal Budget is a road to recovery paved with cash.

Click Here to Download our detailed Budget 2020-21 Client Guide

Below is a summary of key initiatives that may be applicable to you:

Personal income tax cuts from 1 July 2020

Bringing forward the personal income tax plan will:

• Increase the top threshold of the 19% tax bracket to $45,000 (from $37,000)
• Increase the top threshold of the 32.5% tax bracket to $120,000 (from $90,000)
• Increase the low income tax offset from $445 to $700

In addition, the LMITO (low and middle income tax offset), which provides a reduction in tax of up to $1,080 for individuals with a taxable income of up to $126,000, will be retained for 2020-21.

A $4 billion ‘JobMaker’ Hiring Credit to encourage businesses to take on additional employees aged 16 to 35 years old

The JobMaker Hiring Credit will be available to eligible employers over 12 months from 7 October 2020 for each additional new job they create for an eligible employee.

Eligible employers will receive:

• $200 per week if they hire an eligible employee aged 16 to 29 years or
• $100 per week if they hire an eligible employee aged 30 to 35 years.

The JobMaker Hiring Credit will be paid quarterly in arrears. It will be available for up to 12 months from the date of employment of the eligible employee with a maximum amount of $10,400 per additional new position created.

Immediate deductions for business investment in capital assets

The Government is really keen for business to invest. This measure enables businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion to fully expense the cost of new depreciable assets and the cost of improvements to existing eligible assets in the first year of use. This means that an asset’s cost will be fully deductible upfront rather than being claimed over the asset’s life.

While many businesses were already eligible for an instant asset write-off for asset purchases of up to $150,000, this measure does not cap the asset’s cost, and eligibility for the higher instant asset write-off has been significantly broadened and extended (the existing $150,000 instant asset write-off applies to businesses with turnover less than $500 million and will not apply to purchases after 31 December 2020).

Changes to how companies can manage losses

Companies with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion will be able to carry back losses from the 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 income years to offset previously taxed profits in the 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21 income years.

Under this measure tax losses can be applied against taxed profits in a previous year, generating a refundable tax offset in the year in which the loss is made. The amount carried back can be no more than the earlier taxed profits, limiting the refund by the company’s tax liabilities in the profit years. Further, the carry back cannot generate a franking account deficit meaning that the refund is further limited by the company’s franking account balance.

The tax refund will be available on election by eligible businesses when they lodge their 2020-21 and 2021-22 tax returns.

Access to generous tax concessions for a wider range of businesses

Including:

• Immediate deduction for certain start-up expenses
• Immediate deduction for prepaid expenditure
• FBT cark parking exemption
• FBT exemption on portable electronic devices
• Simplified trading stock
• PAYG instalments based on GDP adjustment amount
• Simplified accounting methods

Please contact our office on (02) 9531 0922 for any queries you might have regarding these announcements.