The Turnbull Government has continued its commitment to fairness and sustainability in Australia’s tax system with the passage of the Tax and Superannuation Laws Amendment (2015 Measures No. 5) Bill 2015 through Parliament today, Minister for Small Business and Assistant Treasurer, the Hon Kelly O'Dwyer MP said.
“These changes include three measures from this year’s Budget that demonstrate the Government’s commitment to repairing the nation’s finances and raise $1.5 billion over the four year estimates period,” Minister O’Dwyer said.
“Changes include modernising the ways of calculating work-related car expense deductions without affecting eligibility for the deduction. Two of the least utilised and outdated methods to calculate claims have been removed and a single rate for cents per kilometre travel will be introduced.
“The Zone Tax Offset changes ensure that only taxpayers whose usual residence is in designated regional zones will be eligible for the offset. This means that Fly-In Fly‑Out or Drive-In Drive-Out workers who do not actually reside in these zones will not be able to claim the offset. Instead, the offset will be targeted to those who live in these areas, in line with the original policy intent.
“A $5,000 cap on entertainment benefits has been introduced for employees of certain not-for-profit organisations. Affected employees will no longer be able to salary sacrifice an unlimited amount of remuneration on entertainment benefits, such as restaurant dining and overseas and local holidays, without any tax implications. These concessions are not available to other taxpayers and will also now be reportable on an employee’s payment summary.
“Finally, a new third party reporting regime will assist taxpayers with preparation of returns and activity statements, and improve compliance by increasing the information reported to the Commissioner of Taxation. A range of entities will report information from Government grants and other payments, to transfers of real property, transfers of shares and units in unit trusts, and business payments.
“This legislation supports the Government’s commitment to a fairer, simpler and stronger tax system,” Minister O’Dwyer said.