The Government today introduced the Taxation Laws Amendment (2005 Measures No.1) Bill 2005, with key features giving effect to a number of the Coalition's pre-election commitments. The Minister for Revenue and Assistant Treasurer, Mal Brough, announced that the legislation will:
Introduce a new mature age worker tax offset
- To reward and encourage workers aged 55 and over who choose to stay in the workforce, by providing a maximum annual tax offset of $500 against their income tax liability.
Extend the exemptions from the scope of the fringe benefits tax (FBT)
- To provide an FBT exemption for costs associated with assistance from relocation consultants engaged to help in the relocation of an employee. Relocation consultants are specialists engaged by employers to settle employees into a new location.
- Broaden the FBT exemption for eligible work-related items to include personal digital assistants and portable printers designed for use with portable computers.
- Broaden the FBT exemption for remote area housing to cover employers in industries where employer-provided housing is not customary.
Introduce an effective life depreciation cap for trucks and buses
- For depreciation purposes the effective life for buses, light commercial vehicles, trucks and truck trailers will be capped. This enables taxpayers to claim depreciation by reference to the capped effective life, where that capped effective life is shorter than the effective life determined by the Commissioner of Taxation.
- This measure supports the transport industry in the national interest by, amongst other things, providing an incentive for investment in newer, safer, trucks, buses and trailers than would otherwise be the case.
GST and overseas supplies
- The amendment addresses a recently changed interpretation in the law that allows non residents to provide rights to goods and services connected with Australia GST free. This is inconsistent with the Government's policy that consumption of goods and services in Australia should be subject to GST. It is also consistent with the principle of competitive neutrality between businesses competing in the same market.
- One consequence of the amendment will be that GST applies to rights and options provided offshore, such as the non-accommodation component of Australian holiday packages. Fixing this ensures that domestic operators offering the same good or service in Australia are not disadvantaged compared to some foreign operators.