Pre-Election Australian Federal Budget 2022-23 The Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, has handed down Australia’s pre-election Federal Budget for 2022-23, his 4th Budget.  The Budget pushes cash hand-outs into the wallets of Australians through temporary measures such as one-off payments and petrol excise cuts. With many measures tailing off in July-September 2022, it is clearly geared as an Election Budget, with the nation waiting for the Election date to be called.  Here is our br...

Investing in recovery In his third and possibly last Budget before the next federal election, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg is counting on a new wave of spending to ensure Australia's economic recovery maintains its momentum. As expected, the focus is on jobs and major new spending on support for aged care, women and first-home buyers with some superannuation sweeteners for good measure. With the emphasis on spending, balancing the Budget has been put on the back burner until employme...

With the uncertainty of the federal election now out of the way, we can look forward to some significant reforms to Australia's existing tax system. The Morrison Government went into the election with a comprehensive suite of tax proposals and these are now likely to pass swiftly through Parliament, as the Opposition has indicated it will support the legislation. So just what are the changes we are likely to see when it comes to both our personal tax and the taxes that apply to small ...

What could change for taxpayers after the Federal Election? With the Federal election only weeks away, both major parties have set out their plans for taxation of superannuation, especially as it relates to SMSFs.  There are also new taxation plans for individuals and trusts.  But it can be hard to wade through all the policy speeches and interviews, so here is a quick summary of the current law and the possible changes to come after the election: Comparison of policy areas...

Investment Implications of franking credit changes. The proposed changes announced by the Federal Opposition to the way franking credits operate will have significant implications for some investors; but will have little to no impact for the majority of investors. Under the existing framework, franking credits exist to ensure that the dividends paid by companies to shareholders are effectively taxed at the marginal rate of the shareholder. As such, credits are passed through to the shar...