Families, small business operators and farmers hit hard by ex-Tropical cyclone Oswald, recent flooding in Queensland and New South Wales, and the Tasmania and Wambelong bushfires will not have to pay tax on their disaster recovery payments, said Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury.
The exemption was one of a range of tax measures that passed the Parliament this week.
"This exemption will give those communities hardest hit by these natural disasters piece of mind that they won't lose any of their disaster payments to tax," said Mr Bradbury.
Other measures that also passed the Parliament included the new or extended listings of a number of entities as deductible gift recipients (DGRs), including:
- The Anzac Centenary Public Fund;
- Philanthropy Australia Inc;
- The Australian Council of Social Service Limited;
- The National Congress of Australia's First Peoples Limited;
- United Way Australia;
- The Australia Foundation in support of Human Rights Watch Limited;
- The National Boer War Memorial Association Incorporated;
- The Australian Peacekeeping Memorial Project Incorporated;
- Australia for UNHCR;
- Teach for Australia;
- Social Traders Ltd; and
- The Australian Neighbourhood Houses & Centres Association (ANHCA) Inc.
"Extending DGR status to these organisations will ensure that they have the capacity to raise funds through tax deductible donations to support the important work they do," said Mr Bradbury.