Budget 2018: The winners and losers

Budget 2018: Treasurer Scott Morrison has delivered his third budget - how did you fare?

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison hands down his third Federal Budget.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison hands down his third Federal Budget. Source: AAP

WINNERS

Low and middle-income taxpayers

- Up to 10 million workers will save up to $530 a year from 2018-19 under a new tax offset.

- More than 200,000 taxpayers won’t be paying 37 percent tax rate when the 2.5 percent tax bracket is lifted to those earning $90,000 from July 1, 2018.

- There’ll also be further measures to tackle bracket creep from 2022-2025, which will mean more Australians will be paying less tax under the 32.5 per cent rate. By 2025, 94 per cent of Australians will be paying the 32.5 percent tax rate. 

Small business owners

- Will have another year to claim the $20,000 instant asset write-off, allowing them to deduct the cost of goods costing less than $20,000.

Drivers

- $1 billion urban congestion fund to fix “pinch points and improve traffic flow”.

Older Australians

- The number of home care places will be hiked by 14,000 over four years, costing $1.6 billion.

- Another $146 million will be spent on boosting access to aged care services for those in regional areas.

- Older Australians in aged care will also be able to draw from a $83 million fund to combat depression and loneliness. 

- All age pensioners can now access the Pension Loans Scheme, which will allow them to boost their retirement income by $17,800 for a couple without having their pension eligibility questioned.

- Pensioners can also earn an additional $1300 a year without having their payments cut. Self-employed can now earn up to $7800 and still get the pension.

LOSERS

Refugees

- Will have to wait another 13 weeks – or a total of six months - to get help finding a job.

- Currently they wait 13 weeks to receive help from Jobactive, the government’s job services provider, but that is now being extended to 26 weeks of their arrival.

- The government says the waiting period will help them improve their English language skills.

Migrants

- Will have to wait four years instead of the current three years to access welfare payments from July 1, 2018.

- This will save the government $200 million over five years.

Overseas trained GPs

- The government will bring in 200 fewer doctors from overseas to save $400 million.

Banks

- Levy to continue and the Australian Financial Complaints Authority to start on November 1 and Banking Executive Accountability Regime on July 1.

Money launderers

- Outlawing large cash payments more than $10,000 made to businesses for goods and services from July 1, 2019. Transactions over a threshold.



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3 min read
Published 8 May 2018 10:04pm
Updated 8 May 2018 10:20pm
By Dong Xing


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