WITH the federal budget due to be handed down tomorrow night, there’s all sorts of jostling going on in the background, with different groups each looking for their “slice of the bigger funding pie”.
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The NSW Farmers Association and tourism operators are keen for a sensible solution to the backpacker tax issue.
They basically want the treasurer to do a backflip on proposed changes, which are due to come into force on July 1.
Effectively it’ll mean working holidaymakers will pay 32.5 per cent tax from the first dollar earned, rather than have an $18,000 tax-free threshold.
But the signs ahead of time they’ll get what they want aren’t there.
Then there’s that old stick in the mud, which is funding for the final two years of Gonski reforms.
A recent report commissioned by the Australian Education Union concludes “there will be an enormous economic cost to the nation if it fails to invest in education now”.
And what about the latest Per Capita tax survey, which found that, while most Australians believe they pay about the right amount in tax, many would pay more if the money was spent on better health and aged care services?
It’s a balancing act, this budget business – hard to get right the first time.
Smokers should prepare for another hit, high-end super tax concessions are also on the radar, while there’s millions of dollars being promised for the Great Barrier Reef.
The government’s already declared it won’t touch negative gearing, but companies are likely to get some relief in the form of tax concessions.
The budget, which will be the Turnbull government’s first, will be released tomorrow night – and then it’s all about an election, when, as a nation, we will get to decide if the government has got it right or wrong.
