New Australian tax laws to come into force

Australia’s new tax-related laws come into effect today.

Last month, Australia’s senate approved a set of tax benefit policies concerning laborers, families and business owners. The superannuation guarantee fund will go up from 9.5 by 0.5% every financial year, until it hits 12% in 2025. Additionally, under the reform measures, the corporate tax rate for small- and medium-sized companies—with an income of less than $20 million—will decrease by one percent, and family tax benefit payments will increase. Consequently, medical care and public transportation costs will rise.

Although the Australian Labor Party asserted that employers will provide superannuation funds in addition to regular pays, several businesses will prepare for legal wage cuts during the short-term.

Expect some large Australian corporations to lower their workers’ base salaries to make up for the levy of the boosted superannuation funds. This, in turn, will likely prompt uneasiness specifically amongst laborers with private contracts and many trade unions, such as Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), which will pressure the government to monitor the issue within the framework of Australia’s employee protection laws. Such upward pressure could prompt lawmakers to, in the long-term, implement stronger regulations against pay reductions.

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