In his response to the Federal Budget, Tony Abbott, the Leader of the Opposition announced that the Superannuation Guarantee increase set to take effect from 1 July 2013, will be frozen at 9.25% for 2 years, and the full increase to 12% will be delayed for 2 years. Of course, this announcement is … [Read more...]
Note: This article is regularly updated with new figures to allow readers to compare what a $2 million retirement can deliver if retirement savings are invested with returns of 7% a year, or if invested on retirement with returns of 5% each year. If you opt for a 5% investment return, rather than, … [Read more...]
Note: This article is regularly updated with new figures (in particular the effects of Age Pension changes), to allow readers to compare what a $1 million retirement can deliver if retirement savings are invested with returns of 7% each year, or if invested on retirement with returns of 5% a year. … [Read more...]
Note: This article is updated regularly with the latest lifestyle/income data, and latest Age Pension rates. The most recent data was released in May 2013 (for lifestyle costs up to March 2013) and includes March 2013 Age Pension rates (which apply until September 2013). Due to reader demand and the … [Read more...]
The federal government will be introducing a temporary concessional cap for over-60s from 1 July 2013, which will also apply to over-50s from 1 July 2014. Draft legislation has been prepared for this change. The government will be introducing an unindexed cap of $35,000 for over 60s (from 1 July … [Read more...]
Due to a budget blowout caused by “an over-hang from the global financial crisis and strong Australian dollar”, the federal government has informally announced (drip fed via a series of casual comments in various interviews) that the income tax cuts, that were to take effect from 1 July 2015, … [Read more...]
Q: Do you need to be 60 at July 1 or could you turn 60 any time in 2013/2014 to take advantage of the new $35,000 cap? A: For the benefit of other readers, I will first explain the background to the new over-60s cap. On 5 April 2013, the federal government announced that it will be introducing an … [Read more...]
Note: This article explains the Superannuation Guarantee rate. If you’re seeking information on other superannuation rates and thresholds see SuperGuide article Super rates and thresholds for the 2012/2013 year. In the 2013 Federal Budget papers, the planned increase in Superannuation … [Read more...]
For the 2012/2013 year, only one concessional (before-tax) contributions cap exists for all ages, and that cap is $25,000. Before July 2012, we had a concessional cap for under-50s and a concessional cap for those 50 years and over. From the 2013/2014 year, we will have a special concessional cap … [Read more...]
Note: For your convenience we have included the latest income tax rates, and the income rates for the previous financial year. Over time, this page will also include relevant tax offsets, such as the Senior Australians and Pensioners Tax Offset (SAPTO), and other tax-related information such as the … [Read more...]
The National Disability Insurance Scheme is going to become a reality with a guaranteed financial contribution sourced directly from taxpayers, and promised contributions from the states of Australia. Bravo to the federal government, state governments and to the individuals and organisations who … [Read more...]
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has announced a 0.5% increase in the Medicare levy to help fund the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) – but Labor will not bring in legislation for the higher tax this term. The Prime Minister said the extra tax would represent about $1 a day for someone … [Read more...]
We have received a lot of emails from readers who have expressed their frustration at the unfairness of the proposed pension tax on earnings above $100,000 a year, although a small minority have supported the tax. The common theme for the majority is that many Australians sacrificed and worked … [Read more...]
The excess contributions tax regime has been, and continues to be a total disaster. The federal government has cared very little about the fact that conscientious super savers, who made every attempt to the follow the rules, were being hit with outrageous tax bills, savaging hard-earned retirement … [Read more...]
Note: This list of Q&As was created on 15 April, and will be updated and extended periodically. We will include the date of any future update in this note. An important consideration when reading these Q&As is that the proposed new tax is not yet law, and probably won’t become law until … [Read more...]
