2024/25 Federal Budget Summary

This is one of the more straightforward budget summaries as, frankly, there wasn’t a lot in last night's announcement to get too excited about.  
The key initiatives, as outlined below, primarily focus on moderate revisions across various sectors including personal taxation, cost of living, business taxation, parental superannuation, and social security. 
These are designed to provide incremental benefits and adjustments without drastic impacts. 
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Personal taxation:
The already legislated Stage 3 tax cuts make changes to personal income tax rates and thresholds from the 2024/25 financial year (starting 1 July 2024), resulting in tax savings for all taxpayers.
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• Revised Stage 3 tax cuts will deliver tax savings from 1 July 2024.

​Cost of living:
•    Energy bill relief from 1 July 2024 will provide savings of up to $300 for all households and $325 for eligible small businesses. It’s not yet known exactly when rebates will be applied to accounts, however it will be quarterly.
•    Higher Education Loan Program (HELP) loan holders will benefit from changes to indexation, with debts to be increased by the lower of inflation and wages growth. The average student will now save approximately $1000. To estimate indexation credits, see HELP Indexation Credit Estimator.
•    The maximum Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) co-payment of $7.70 will be frozen for pensioners and Commonwealth concession cardholders until 31 December 2029. For all other Medicare card holders, the co-payment of $31.60 is frozen until 1 January 2026.
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Business taxation:
•    The $20,000 instant asset write-off threshold for eligible small businesses will be extended for another 12 months until 30 June 2025.
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Superannuation:
•    Superannuation Guarantee will be paid on Paid Parental Leave from 1 July 2025.
o    This proposal will help normalise parental leave as a workplace entitlement like annual leave.
o     This measure is designed to reduce the impact of parental leave on retirement savings.
•    Contributions will be at the same rate as employer contributions under the Superannuation Guarantee, which will be 12% from 1 July 2025.
Social security and aged care:
•    The freeze on social security deeming rates for financial investments will be extended until 30 June 2025.

• The maximum Commonwealth Rent Assistance will be increased by 10%.

o    The average rent has increased by $40/week and rental assistance is only going up $1.40 a day.

• From 20 March 2025, Carer Payment recipients will be able to work up to 100 hours at any time in a four-week period without losing their payment. This is known as the ‘participation limit’ and is only a maximum of 25 hours every week.
• Increased support will be provided to older Australians looking to remain in their home to receive ongoing care by providing an additional 24,100 home care packages in 2024/25. The Single Assessment System commences from 1 July 2025, which will provide a single point and needs assessment for aged care. Funding will be provided to assist the implementation of the new Support at Home Program commencing on 1 July 2025.

Conclusion:
Overall, the budget adjustments present modest benefits across multiple areas, without introducing any major disruptions or surprises.
As always, if you have any queries about the above or any other budget announcements then please give our office a call.