Category Archives: Tax

Pacific nations ‘very positive’ on re-engagement, PM says – as it happened

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Bushmaster reportedly destroyed in fighting in Ukraine; nation records 30 Covid deaths. This blog is now closed

Finance minister Katy Gallagher is speaking now to ABC Insiders host David Speers. She says Labor faces “a very serious set of economic and budget challenges, and we don’t want to pretend it is anything but that”.

Q: Are you saying that the figures that were produced showing deficits totalling $224bn over the next four years – were they accurate or not?

Well, they are certainly the numbers that the finance department and the Treasury signed off on in the election campaign, but I think the point we are making is that there is a range of spending that we are having a look at in the budget and there is also clearly some huge budget pressures coming.

I guess in those areas – health, aged care, the NDIS, defence, national security – where there are all of them growing faster than GDP and going to play significant pressure on the budget going forward …

I haven’t had many moments to reflect, I’ve got to say ... it’s been a busy time. But I do understand the great responsibility that I have – I’m humbled by it. It says a lot about our great country that the son of a single mum, who was an invalid pensioner living in council housing, can rise to lead the country as prime minister and I’ll never take it for granted. I’ll honour it every day and I’ll do my best. That’s not to say I’ll be perfect, because none of us are, but I’ll try to keep it real on the way through and continue to keep my feet on the ground, because I think that is really important as well.

Australians are generous people and I think that they’ll give us a go. I get the sense out there that they want us to succeed. And I had people who didn’t vote for us as well, who said to me, we really want you to succeed for the sake of the country. So we’ll do our best.

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Rishi Sunak hints at U-turn on UK oil and gas windfall tax

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The chancellor says nothing is off the table but fellow Tory ministers remain dismissive of idea

Rishi Sunak has opened the door to a windfall tax on oil and gas companies despite previously dismissing the policy, as Labour accused the government of burying its head in the sand over spiralling bills.

The chancellor hinted at a possible U-turn on a tax on oil and gas providers, after repeatedly refusing to countenance the idea in the past when suggested by Labour and the Lib Dems.

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UK politics: Starmer accuses Sunak of taxation ‘hypocrisy’ – as it happened

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This live blog is now closed. You can see some of our latest politics stories below:

At the Downing Street lobby briefing the No 10 spokesperson confirmed that Lord Geidt, the independent adviser on ministerial standards, would be conducting an inquiry into Rishi Sunak’s declarations of interest. Sunak requested one last night – but Geidt is only allowed to launch an inquiry with the permission of the PM, which has now been given.

But the spokesperson was unable to confirm that the inquiry would cover Sunak’s decision to retain his US green card after he became a minister, and even while he was chancellor. It is reported that he only gave it up last October.

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National insurance rise forces UK employers to shoulder £9bn tax burden

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Bosses say 1.25-point rise heaps pressure on firms already enduring soaring costs linked to Covid and Brexit

Britain’s employers are being forced to shoulder a £9bn tax rise after the government pushed ahead with raising national insurance on Wednesday despite stiff opposition.

Company bosses said the 1.25-percentage-point rise in national insurance contributions (NICs), which is paid by workers and their employers, would add to already severe pressure from runaway inflation and soaring business costs this year linked to Covid, Brexit and Russia’s war in Ukraine.

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Labor has no plans to increase taxes on Australians if elected, Jim Chalmers says

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Shadow treasurer moves to make Labor policy crystal clear after Coalition seizes on ambiguity in Anthony Albanese’s comments

Labor has no plans to increase taxes on Australians and will look to lift foreign aid if elected in May, the shadow treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has said.

The senior frontbencher said on Sunday that federal Labor’s only tax proposal was to crack down on multinational tax avoidance.

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From energy costs to TV bills: what has gone up in price today?

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Britons face a shock as household costs soar – and some unexpected items such as beer also go up

It’s been dubbed “bleak Friday” by some: pre-announced price rises for many household bills are to take effect on 1 April, adding to the misery for consumers who are already paying more for goods and food than this time last year.

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Treasury considers ways to ease cost of living in spring statement

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Reluctant to make big fiscal changes, chancellor Rishi Sunak considers tax adjustments and fuel duty cut

The Treasury has drawn up a range of options to help with the cost of living crisis – including a 1p cut to income tax, raising the national insurance threshold and a significant cut to fuel duty.

But government sources said Rishi Sunak, the chancellor, was still reluctant to make big fiscal changes.

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Ukraine crisis puts Sunak under new pressure to axe national insurance rise

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Tory MPs and business groups urge chancellor to scrap increase intended to fund NHS and social care amid fears of stagflation

Chancellor Rishi Sunak is under renewed pressure from MPs and business groups to rethink plans to increase national insurance next month, as fears grow that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine will dramatically worsen the cost of living crisis and plunge the economy into “stagflation”.

Both Tory and Labour MPs believe Sunak can still be persuaded to ditch the 1.25 percentage point rise – announced last September to fund the NHS and social care – and want him to use the potentially devastating effects of events in Ukraine on prices as justification for what they say is an urgently needed U-turn.

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Men on high incomes to take lion’s share of Coalition’s $184bn tax cuts, analyses find

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Government’s ‘trickle down disaster’ will further entrench inequality between men and woman, Greens say

Tax cuts planned to take effect in 2024-25 are highly regressive and would pay male beneficiaries twice as much as women, separate analyses by the Australia Institute, the Greens and the Australian Council of Social Service have found.

The so-called stage-three tax cuts will remove the 37 cents in the dollar tax bracket, lower the 32.5 cent bracket to 30 cents, and raise the top tax bracket to start at $200,000 compared with $180,000 now. All up, the cuts will cost about $184bn over the first decade, the groups said.

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British woman wins legal battle against Australia’s ‘backpacker tax’

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Australia’s high court finds the higher rate of tax for working holiday makers is discriminatory and breaches treaty with UK

A British backpacker who worked as a waiter in Sydney has won a long-running legal dispute against Australia’s “backpacker tax” in its highest court.

On Wednesday the high court ruled in favour of Catherine Addy, finding the tax which slugged working holiday-makers thousands of dollars more than Australians discriminated against her on the basis of her nationality and infringed a treaty Australia signed with the UK.

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Clamour for wealth tax grows after revelations about super-rich’s affairs

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Data leak published by ProPublica fuels calls to tighten up system which sees ultra-wealthy pay little or no tax

The revelation last week that the 25 richest US billionaires have paid very little tax even as their fortunes have soared has reignited demands for wealth taxes on both sides of the Atlantic.

An unprecedented leak of “a vast trove” of 15 years of Internal Revenue Service (IRS) data to the investigative news site ProPublica has provided a staggering insight into the legal strategies the very rich deploy to avoid tax.

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Victorian treasurer takes swipe at ‘elitist’ men’s only clubs as budget lifts property taxes

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Tim Pallas announces plans to strip single-gender social clubs of land tax concessions traditionally afforded to charities

The Victorian government has taken a swipe at exclusive men’s only clubs, announcing plans to strip them of land tax concessions traditionally afforded to charities and social associations.

Victoria’s treasurer, Tim Pallas, is preparing to deliver the state’s 2021 budget next Thursday, and staring down an eye-watering bill from the devastating Covid-19 second wave. In order to raise revenue Pallas has announced new land tax measures, expected to bring in an extra $2.7bn over the next four years.

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ALP national conference 2021: Anthony Albanese to announce $15bn Covid recovery fund – live

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Australian Labor party gathers online to endorse slimmed-down election platform and debate industrial relations, trade and foreign affairs. Follow all the latest updates, live

Delegate Nizza Siano has put forward this one:

Labor’s policy should be framed to provide a positive and compassionate approach by a Labor Government to the treatment of refugees, rather than a reaction to the punitive and cruel approach of the Coalition Government. Refugees and those seeking asylum in Australia are to be welcomed under a Labor Government as assets who enhance this nation and our economy and provide positive contribution to our strong multicultural society.

In this chapter, Michael Danby will move this motion:

Labor calls on China to abide by its own constitution and laws which expressly allows for the cultural autonomy of the Tibetan people within the People’s Republic.

Tibetans must be allowed, as they are under Chinese law, to freely practice their religion, to learn and speak their language and to have official documents in the language of the vast majority of people living in the Tibetan autonomous zone.

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Richest 1% have almost a quarter of UK wealth, study claims

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Official figures have missed £800bn of private assets, says thinktank, amid calls for wealth tax to fund Covid recovery

Almost a quarter of all household wealth in the UK is held by the richest 1% of the population, according to alarming new research that reveals a historic underestimation of inequality in the country.

The study found that the top 1% had almost £800bn more wealth than suggested by official statistics, meaning that inequality has been far higher than previously thought. Researchers said the extra billions was a conservative estimate and could well be more.

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Australia’s wealthy to benefit most from next round of Coalition tax cuts

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Successive cuts will cost federal budget three times what is spent on public schools, Greens leader to say in push to have next round scrapped

Income tax cut packages since 2017 will cost the budget $325bn by the end of the decade, with high-income earners capturing 58% of the benefit.

That is the result of a Parliamentary Budget Office analysis prepared for the Greens, released on Saturday ahead of a speech by Adam Bandt vowing to use the balance of power to force a future Labor government to repeal the next round of cuts.

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Australia coronavirus news: NSW reports eight new cases of community transmission as Victoria records 11 – live updates

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Victoria reports no new deaths as NSW Health warns of several new Sydney locations linked to Covid-19. Follow all today’s news

NSW says a new cluster of three people is likely linked to an existing cluster. The premier Gladys Berejiklian is also warning that the public will be told of “additional venues, additional locations” to respond to during the day.

The remaining three cases of community transmission are all linked, and that source is being investigated by Health. Health has not ruled out also being able to establish a link between that new cluster of three people and also an existing cluster. It’s also important to note that we anticipate during the day there will be additional venues, additional locations, which we’ll be asking the public to respond to.

We anticipate that because we’ve identified these eight cases, that a number of close contacts and family members could be found to be positive as a result, so it’s really, really important for everybody to stay on high alert, look at the information which Health provides during the course of the day, and please react and make sure you take that advice. If you’re asked to get tested and stay home for 14 days, please make sure you do that.

In NSW, another four cases were recorded from returned travellers.

Of the eight locally-acquired cases, one is under investigation and seven are linked to a known case or cluster. NSW Health said:

One new case reported today was locally acquired, is likely to have been infected some days ago and appears linked to the Liverpool Hospital Dialysis cluster. Four more cases are close contacts of this case.

One new case is locally acquired whose source is under investigation. The remaining two cases today are close contacts of this case.

Testing numbers have dropped recently, which is a concern. NSW Health renews its call for increased testing across Sydney, even if you have the mildest of symptoms like a runny nose or scratchy throat, cough, fever or other symptoms that could be COVID-19.

This is especially important for people across West and South West Sydney with these new cases and after the state’s sewage surveillance program detected fragments of the virus at the North Richmond and West Camden treatment plants.

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Australian budget reaction updates: Coalition punts on business for Covid recovery – politics live

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Josh Frydenberg’s budget relies on tax cuts and business incentives, but rests on some optimistic assumptions. Follow all the reaction and coronavirus news

Meanwhile, once upon a time

I know it is a bit much for her to be morally consistent but. https://t.co/jKpD1iHTu7 https://t.co/UmUUfDSMfe pic.twitter.com/U7WUbxPPXP

High from being retweeted and quoted by Donald Trump, who proved he had learned more about the seriousness of Covid by forcing public employees to drive him around in a sealed vehicle, and then removing his mask for a photo op, Miranda Devine continues to do Australia proud, making even a Fox News host raise an eyebrow

"It's incredibly selfish of older people or neurotic people who are timid & afraid & won't come out of their basements to confine children & young people to miss out on the most important part of their lives" - Fox News is now straight up blaming old & vulnerable people for Covid pic.twitter.com/mLhiwDHmrN

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How much will I get from the 2020 federal budget tax cuts? More if you earn over $100,000

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The Coalition’s stage 2 cuts give medium-income earners up to $1,080 – for one year – but those on high incomes a permanent cut of $2,430

The government has chosen to stick with tax cuts as its big-ticket stimulus measure and so medium-income earners will get a tax cut of up to $1,080 for one year.

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Labor calls on Josh Frydenberg to front Covid-19 inquiry to explain jobkeeper ‘$60bn black hole’

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Penny Wong says treasurer should have ‘the courage’ to take responsibility for error as Coalition faces calls to expand wage subsidy

Labor will attempt to pressure the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, to appear before the Senate’s Covid-19 inquiry to explain the “$60bn black hole” in the jobkeeper program.

The move comes as the Morrison government faces growing calls to expand the wage subsidy to cover a wider group of workers, after revelations on Friday that the six-month program is now expected to cost the budget $70bn rather than $130bn.

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