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Budget 2021-22: The Balancing Act Budget

The 2021-22 Federal Budget is a balancing act between a better than anticipated deficit ($106 bn), an impending election, and the need to invest in the long term.

Key initiatives include:

Extension of temporary full expensing and loss-carry back providing immediate deductions for business investment in capital assets
Extension of the low and middle income tax offset
Child care subsidy increase for families with multiple children
New and extended home ownership programs for first home owners and single parents

It is also a human budget (cynics would say voter focussed), with $17.7 billion dedicated to aged care, more money in the pockets of low income earners, the COVID vaccine rollout, $2 billion for mental health, a women’s economic package including a child care subsidy increase and funding to prevent violence, and a Royal Commission into defence and veteran suicide.

There will also be a lot of money flowing through to the private sector to those that are capable of developing new technologies. Momentum and drive to develop new initiatives is a strong theme and in some circumstances the Government will offset the risk of those initiatives – if you are in the right sectors.

The $1.2 billion digital economy strategy seeks to rewrite Australia’s underlying infrastructure and incentivise business to boldly develop towards a digital future. The program is broad – from upskilling the workforce, the expansion of consumer digital rights, the development of SME digitisation, Government service delivery, to cybersecurity.

Productivity is a key take-out with several measures targeted at encouraging industry to innovate and develop including the extension of full expensing and the loss carry back measures.

If we can assist you to take advantage of any of the Budget measures, or to risk protect your position, please let us know.

For You & Your Family

Low and middle income tax offset extended

Date of effect

From 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022

As widely predicted, the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset (LMITO) will be extended for another year. The LMITO provides a reduction in tax of up to $1,080 for individuals with a taxable income of up to $126,000 and will be retained for the 2021-22 year.

Taxable income	Offset
$37,000 or less	$255
Between $37,001 and $48,000	$255 plus 7.5 cents for every dollar above $37,000, up to a maximum of $1,080
Between $48,001 and $90,000	$1,080
Between $90,001 and $126,000	$1,080 minus 3 cents for every dollar of the amount above $90,000

The tax offset is triggered when a taxpayer lodges their tax return.

Medicare levy low income threshold

Date of effect

1 July 2020

The Government will increase the Medicare levy low-income thresholds for singles, families, and seniors and pensioners from 1 July 2020 to take account of recent movements in the CPI so that low-income taxpayers generally continue to be exempt from paying the Medicare levy.

	2019-20	2020-21
Singles	$22,801	$23,226
Family threshold	$38,474	$39,167
Single seniors and pensioners	$36,056	$36,705
Family threshold for seniors and pensioners	$50,191	$51,094

For each dependent child or student, the family income thresholds increase by a further $3,597 instead of the previous amount of $3,533.

$250 self-education expense reduction removed

Date of effect

First income year after the date of Royal Assent of the enabling legislation

Currently, individuals claiming a deduction for self-education expenses sometimes need to reduce the deductible amount by up to $250. The rules in this area are complex as they only apply to self-education expenses that fall within a specific category and certain non-deductible expenses can be offset against the $250 reduction. This reduction will be removed, which should make it easier for individuals to calculate their self-education deductions.

Child care subsidy increase for families with multiple children under 5 in child care

Previously announced

Date of effect

1 July 2022

From 1 July 2022 the Government will:

Increase child care subsidies available to families with more than one child aged five and under in child care, and
Remove the $10,560 cap on the Child Care Subsidy.

For those families with more than one child in child care, the level of subsidy received will increase by 30% to a maximum subsidy of 95% of fees paid for their second and subsequent children (tapered by income and hours of care).

Under the current system, the maximum child care subsidy payable is 85% of child care fees and it applies at the same rate per child, regardless of how many children a family may have in care.

Why? In October 2020, analysis by the Grattan Institute revealed that mothers lose 80%, 90% and even 100% of their take-home pay from working a fourth or fifth day after the additional childcare costs, clawback of the childcare subsidy, and tax and benefit changes are factored in.

“Unsurprisingly, not many find the option of working for free or close to it particularly attractive. The “1.5 earner” model has become the norm in Australia. And our rates of part-time work for women are third-highest in the OECD.

Childcare costs are the biggest contributor to these “workforce disincentives“. The maximum subsidy is not high enough for low-income families, and the steep taper and annual cap limit incentives to work beyond three days, across the income spectrum,” the report said.

Underwriting home ownership

Previously announced

The Government has announced new and expanded programs to assist Australians to buy a home.

2% deposit home loans for single parents

Date of effect

1 July 2021

The Government will guarantee 10,000 single parents with dependants to enable them to access a home loan with a deposit as low as 2% under the Family Home Guarantee. Similar to the first home loan deposit scheme, the program will guarantee the additional 18% normally required for a deposit without lenders mortgage insurance.

The Family Home Guarantee is aimed at single parents with dependants, regardless of whether that single parent is a first home buyer or previous owner-occupier. Applicants must be Australian citizens, at least 18 years of age and have an annual taxable income of no more than $125,000.

5% deposit home loans for first home buyers building new homes

Date of effect

1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022

The First Home Loan Deposit Scheme will be extended by another 10,000 places from 1 July 2021 to 30 June 2022. Eligible first home buyers can build a new home with a deposit of as little as 5% (lenders criteria apply). The Government guarantees a participating lender up to 15% of the value of the property purchased that is financed by an eligible first home buyer’s home loan. Twenty seven participating lenders offer places under the scheme.

Under the scheme, first home buyers can build or purchase a new home, including newly-constructed dwellings, off-the-plan dwellings, house and land packages, land and a separate contract to build a new home, and can be used in conjunction with other schemes and concessions for first home buyers. Conditions and timeframes apply.

First home saver scheme cap increase

Date of effect

Start of the first financial year after Royal Assent of the enabling legislation

Expected to be 1 July 2022

The first home super saver (FHSS) scheme allows you to save money for your first home inside your super fund, enabling you to save faster by accessing the concessional tax treatment of superannuation. You can make voluntary concessional (before-tax) and voluntary non-concessional (after-tax) contributions into your super fund and then apply to release those funds.

Currently under the scheme, participants can release up to $15,000 of the voluntary contributions (and earnings) they have made in a financial year up to a total of $30,000 across all years.

The Government has announced that the current maximum releasable amount of $30,000 will increase to $50,000.

The voluntary contributions made to superannuation are assessed under the applicable contribution caps; there is no separate cap for these amounts.

Amounts withdrawn will be taxed at marginal rates less a 30% offset. Non-concessional contributions made to the FHSS are not taxed.

To be eligible for the scheme, you must be 18 years of age or over, never owned property in Australia, and have not previously applied to release superannuation amounts under the scheme. Eligibility is assessed on an individual basis. This means that couples, siblings or friends can each access their own eligible FHSS contributions to purchase the same property.

Your superannuation

Work test repealed for voluntary superannuation contributions

Date of effect

The first financial year after Royal Assent of the enabling legislation

Expected to be 1 July 2022

Individuals aged 67 to 74 years will be able to make or receive non-concessional or salary sacrifice superannuation contributions without meeting the work test. The contributions are subject to existing contribution caps and include contributions under the bring-forward rule.

Currently, the ‘work test’ requires individuals aged 67 to 74 years to work at least 40 hours over a 30 day period in a financial year to be able to make voluntary contributions (both concessional and non-concessional) to their superannuation, or receive contributions from their spouse.

Personal concessional contributions will remain subject to the ‘work test’ for those aged between 67-74.

Expanded access to ‘downsizer’ contributions from sale of family home

Date of effect

The first financial year after Royal Assent of the enabling legislation

Expected to be 1 July 2022

The eligibility age to access downsizer contributions will decrease from 65 years of age to 60.

Currently, downsizer contributions enable those over the age of 65 to contribute $300,000 from the proceeds of selling their home to their superannuation fund. These contributions are excluded from the existing age test, work test and the $1.7 million transfer balance threshold (but will not be exempt from your transfer balance cap).

Both members of a couple can take advantage of the concession for the same home. That is, if a couple have joint ownership of a property and meet the other criteria, both people can contribute up to $300,000 ($600,000 per couple).

Downsizer contributions apply to sales of a principal residence owned for the past ten or more years.

Sale proceeds contributed to superannuation under this measure will count towards the Age Pension assets test.

Business & employers

Temporary full expensing extension

Date of effect

Assets acquired from 7:30pm AEDT on 6 October 2020 and first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2023

Businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion will be able to continue to fully expense the cost of new depreciable assets and the cost of improvements to existing eligible assets in the first year of use. Introduced in the 2020-21 Budget, this measure will enable an asset’s cost to continue to be fully deductible upfront rather than being claimed over the asset’s life, regardless of the cost of the asset. The extension means that the rules can apply to assets that are first used or installed ready for use by 30 June 2023.

Certain expenditure is excluded from this measure, such as improvements to land or buildings that are not treated as plant or as separate depreciating assets in their own right. Expenditure on these improvements would still normally be claimed at 2.5% or 4% per year.

The car limit will continue to place a cap on the deductions that can be claimed for luxury cars.

From 1 July 2023, normal depreciation arrangements will apply and the instant asset write-off threshold for small businesses with turnover of less than $10 million will revert back to $1,000.

Second-hand assets

For businesses with an aggregated turnover under $50 million, full expensing also applies to second-hand assets.

Small business pooling

Small business entities (with aggregated annual turnover of less than $10 million) using the simplified depreciation rules can deduct the full balance of their simplified depreciation pool at the end of the income year while full expensing applies. The provisions which prevent small businesses from re-entering the simplified depreciation regime for five years if they voluntarily leave the system will presumably continue to be suspended.

Opt-out rules

Taxpayers can choose not to apply the temporary full expensing rules to specific assets, although this choice is not currently available to small business entities that choose to apply the simplified depreciation rules for the relevant income year.

Temporary loss-carry back extension

Date of effect

Losses from the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 or 2022-23 income years

Companies with an aggregated turnover of less than $5 billion will be able to carry back losses from the 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 income years to offset previously taxed profits in the 2018-19, 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 income years.

Under this measure tax losses can be applied against taxed profits in a previous year, generating a refundable tax offset in the year in which the loss is made. The amount carried back can be no more than the earlier taxed profits, limiting the refund by the company’s tax liabilities in the profit years. Further, the carry back cannot generate a franking account deficit meaning that the refund is further limited by the company’s franking account balance.

The tax refund will be available on election by eligible businesses when they lodge their 2020-21, 2021-22 and 2022-23 tax returns.

Before the measure was introduced in the 2020-21 Budget, companies were required to carry losses forward to offset profits in future years. Companies that do not elect to carry back losses can still carry losses forward as normal.

This measure will interact with the Government’s announcement to extend full expensing of investments in depreciating assets for another year. The new investment will generate significant tax losses in some cases which can then be carried back to generate cash refunds for eligible companies.

Residency tests rewrite

Date of effect

The first income year after the date of Royal Assent of the enabling legislation.

Determining whether an individual is a resident of Australia for tax purposes can be complex. The current residency tests for tax purposes can create uncertainty and are often subject to legal action.

The Government will replace the individual tax residency rules with a new, modernised framework. The primary test will be a simple ‘bright line’ test – a person who is physically present in Australia for 183 days or more in any income year will be an Australian tax resident. Individuals who do not meet the primary test will be subject to secondary tests that depend on a combination of physical presence and measurable, objective criteria.

The modernisation of the residency framework is based on the Board of Taxation’s 2019 report Reforming individual tax residency rules – a model for modernisation.

Employee share scheme simplification

Date of effect

ESS interests issued from the first income year after Royal Assent of the enabling legislation

Employee share schemes provide an opportunity for employers to offer employees a stake in the growth of the company by issuing interests such as shares, rights (including options) or other financial products to their employees, usually at a discount.

The Government has moved to simplify employee share schemes and make them more attractive by removing the cessation of employment taxing point for tax-deferred Employee Share Schemes (ESS). Currently, when an employee receives shares or options that are subject to deferred taxation the taxing point is triggered when they cease employment with the company, even if they could still lose the shares or options in future or have not yet exercised the options they have received.

This will mean that under a tax-deferred ESS, where certain criteria are met, employees may continue to defer the taxing point even if they are no longer employed by the company. In broad terms, following this change the deferred taxing point will be the earliest of:

in the case of shares, when there is no risk of forfeiture and no restrictions on disposal
in the case of options, when the employee exercises the option and there is no risk of forfeiting the resulting shares and no restriction on disposal
the maximum period of deferral of 15 years.

Regulatory changes will also be made to reduce red tape where employers do not charge or lend

to the employees to whom they offer ESS. Where employers do charge or lend, streamlining requirements will apply for unlisted companies making ESS offers that are valued at up to $30,000 per employee per year.

$450 per month threshold for super guarantee eligibility removed

Date of effect

The first financial year after Royal Assent of the enabling legislation

Expected to be 1 July 2022

Currently, employees need to earn $450 per month to be eligible to be paid the superannuation guarantee. This threshold will be removed so all employees will be paid super guarantee regardless of their income earned.

The Retirement Income Review estimated that around 300,000 individuals would receive additional superannuation guarantee payments each month once the threshold is removed.

Tax relief for brewers and distillers – annual cap increased to $350k

Previously announced

Date of effect

1 July 2021

From 1 July 2021, eligible brewers and distillers will be able to receive a full remission of any excise they pay, up to an annual cap of $350,000. Currently, eligible brewers and distillers are entitled to a refund of 60% of the excise they pay, up to an annual cap of $100,000.

The tax relief will align the benefit available under the Excise Refund Scheme for brewers and distillers with the Wine Equalisation Tax (WET) Producer Rebate.

New avenue for small business to ‘pause’ ATO debt recovery

Previously announced

Date of effect

Date of Royal Assent of the enabling legislation

Small businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $10 million per year will be able to apply to the Small Business Taxation Division of the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) to pause or modify ATO debt recovery action until their underlying case is decided.

Currently, small business can only pause ATO debt recovery action in the courts. This new avenue will enable a small business to pause ATO debt recovery until their case has been heard by the AAT.

4 Media release – Making it easier for small business to pause debt recovery action

Education, skills & training

Apprenticeship scheme uncapped

Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements provides a 50% wage subsidy to employers and Group Training Organisations to take on new apprentices and trainees. The measure will uncap the number of eligible places and increase the duration of the 50% wage subsidy to 12 months from the date an apprentice or trainee commences with their employer.

From 5 October 2020 to 31 March 2022, businesses of any size can claim the Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements wage subsidy for new apprentices or trainees who commence during this period. Eligible businesses will be reimbursed up to 50% of an apprentice or trainee’s wages of up to $7,000 per quarter for 12 months.

Media release – Thousands Of New Apprentice And Trainee Jobs

Boosting Apprenticeship Commencements

Digital skills training

Previously announced

As part of its Digital Economy Strategy package, the Government has committed to $100m in funding to support digital skills development including:

- Digital Skills Cadetship Trials – working with industry, the Government will trial 4 to 6 month cadetships for digital careers comprising formal training with on-the-job learning.
- Expansion of Cyber Security Skills Partnership Innovation Fund – Additional funding for education providers that improve the quality or availability of cyber security professionals in Australia.
- Next Generation Graduates Programs – AI & next gen technologies – a competitive national scholarship program cofounded with universities and industry:

the Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Graduates Program to attract and train up to 234 home-grown, job-ready AI specialists through competitive national scholarships
the Next Generation Emerging Technology Graduates Program to attract and train up to an additional 234 home-grown, job-ready specialists in other emerging technologies, such as robotics, cyber security, quantum computing, blockchain and data through competitive national scholarships.

Media release – A modern digital economy to secure Australia’s future

Government & regulators

New compliance requirements for NFP income tax exemptions

Date of effect

1 July 2023

The Government will invest $1.9m for the ATO to build an online system to enhance the transparency of income tax exemptions claimed by not-for-profit entities (NFPs).

Currently non-charitable NFPs can self-assess their eligibility for income tax exemptions, without an obligation to report to the ATO. From 1 July 2023, the ATO will require income tax exempt NFPs with an active Australian Business Number (ABN) to submit online annual self-review forms with the information they ordinarily use to self-assess their eligibility for the exemption. This measure will ensure that only eligible NFPs are accessing income tax exemptions.

$850m to protect and develop farming

Previously released

A package of measures is aimed at protecting and enhancing the farming sector, much of it focussed on biosecurity and stewardship. Specific initiatives relate to African Swine Fever and the Khapra Beetle, but much of the package is in the development of biosecurity diagnostic tools and analytics across multiple contact points – cargo, international mail, air travellers, container cargo.

Measures include:

$400.1 million to strengthen biosecurity;
$32.1 million to extend opportunities to reward farmers for the stewardship of their land;
$29.8 million to grow the agricultural workforce;
$15.0 million to improve trade and market access; and
$129.8 million to deliver a National Soils Strategy.

Media release – Budget securing Australia’s recovery with better deal for farmers

Media Release – Biosecurity for a safe Australia and thriving farming sector

Women’s safety

The Government has committed $998.1 million over four years for initiatives to reduce, and support the victims of Family, Domestic and Sexual Violence (FDSV) against women and children. Initiatives include a new National Partnership with the states and territories to expand the funding of frontline FDSV support

Services, $5,000 grants for women fleeing domestic violence, programs to support refugee and migrant women, programs to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children who have experienced or are experiencing family violence, along with a range of prevention campaigns.

Funding has also been provided for vulnerable women and children accessing the legal system and family support services.

Other