Editor: I doubt this has escaped your notice, but we should report it nonetheless!

The Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, visited the Governor-General on 4 August 2013 and Her Excellency accepted his advice that an election be held on Saturday 7 September.

Note: With the election being announced, the House of Representatives was dissolved at 5.30pm on 5 August 2013, and the Government moved into 'caretaker mode'.

The Government's Tax Plans

Some of the tax and superannuation policies the Government are taking to the election include:

  • Terminating the fixed carbon price and bring forward the start date of emissions trading to 1 July 2014;
  • Targeting the FBT exemption for car fringe benefits to actual business use (i.e., abolishing the 'statutory formula method');
  • Staged increases to the rate of tobacco excise;
  • Giving additional resources to the ATO to address ongoing levels of tax debt and unpaid superannuation; and
  • Committing to make no major changes to superannuation tax policy for five-year periods commencing "immediately" (as at 31 July 2013).

Note, however, that the Government has decided to defer the introduction of the $2,000 cap on work-related education expense deductions until 1 July 2015.

The Coalition's Tax Plans

Some of the tax and superannuation policies the Coalition are taking to the election include:

  • Reducing the company tax rate by 1.5% to a new rate of 28.5%;
  • Expanding the paid parental leave scheme to provide working women their full salary for six months (Editor: Note that they intend to partly fund this by a 1.5% levy to be imposed on businesses with taxable income exceeding $5 million, so their tax rate will effectively remain at 30%);
  • Reject Labor's $1.8 billion FBT "hit on cars";
  • Defer by two years the increase in compulsory employer-funded superannuation;
  • Protect the rights of independent contractors and the self-employed, and will not change current laws relating to the treatment of personal services income; and (of course)
  • Abolish the carbon tax and mining tax.

Editor: Incidentally, the Australian Greens have proposed reducing the company tax rate for small businesses from 30% to 28% from 1 July 2014.

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