Tax Tips

Compulsory superannuation contributions made by employers on behalf of their employees

The Superannuation Guarantee rate remained at 9.5% for the 2015/2016 financial year, and again remains at 9.5% for the 2016/2017 financial year.

Flood Levy

The Prime Minister, the Hon. Julia Gillard, has announced that the Australian Federal Government would impose a levy on taxable incomes to help fund reconstruction work in Queensland and other regions devastated by severe flood damage. The levy will apply for the 2011 - 12 financial year.

The details of the proposed levy are:

no levy will apply on taxable incomes of $50,000 or less
a levy of 0.5 per cent will be applied on that part of an individual's taxable income between $50,001 and $100,000
a levy of one per cent will be applied on taxable income above $100,000
those who receive the Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment for a flood event in 2010 - 11 will be exempt from the levy

It is important you let us know if you received any payments for flood relief. In most cases these will be non-taxable.

Education Tax Refund

The Australian Government has change the Education Tax Refund to include schoool-approved uniforms purchased from 1st July 2011. From 1st July 2011 start keeping receipts for school uniform items, you can claim them next year.