The Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s first budget has lots of goodies with few “baddies”. This was to be expected with the next federal election only weeks away and the Coalition Government trying to make up ground in the polls.

The Treasurer’s “wow” factor was a return to a budget surplus of $7.1 billion for the 2019-20 fiscal year.

Without increasing taxes, the Coalition Government, if re-elected, promises to deliver on a mix of benefits for a majority of taxpayers in Australia.  These include:

Personal income tax cuts through adjusting upwards the thresholds at which the current tax rates apply (from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2024) and then, finally, in the income year ending 30 June 2025, having only three rates of tax, with the highest marginal rate (45%) commencing at $200,000.
Increasing the Low and middle income tax offset to a maximum offset of $1,080 for the years ending 30 June 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Increasing the instant asset write-off threshold from $25,000 to $30,000 and extending this so that businesses with a turnover of between $50 million and $10 million can also access the concession.  This will apply from Budget night until 30 June 2020.

Apart from the above, the budget was quite “light” on tax and superannuation changes.  The government, no doubt, is trying to make itself a small target in relation to the coming election.

Also note that proposed changes to Division 7A will be deferred from 1 July 2019 to 1 July 2020, and that there are some useful changes to superannuation that will benefit older pre-retirees.

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Taxing digital products and low value goods to change
When the GST Act and Regulations were drafted in 1999, e-commerce was in its infancy – it was not fully envisaged that people would prefer to shop from the comfort of their computer, and now even their mobile devices, rather than visiting a bricks and mortar shop. Over the years however, Australian internet sales have grown rapidly and are now in excess of $20 billion a year.

This has caused dismay from Australian businesses that have increasingly complained about an unequal playing field, since Australian consumers are often able to avoid incurring GST on their internet purchases from non-resident businesses. Online video-on-demand provider Netflix is a prime example where a subscription to its services is not subject to GST under existing laws.

In response to these concerns, the government has introduced amendments that extend GST to supplies of digital products, certain services and low value goods imported by consumers.

As a result of these amendments, Australian consumers will soon find themselves paying 10% more for many online purchases. In addition, many overseas suppliers will be required to register and pay GST, though in some cases the GST liability may be shifted to an electronic distribution platform or goods forwarder. To ease the administrative burden, the ATO will permit some foreign businesses affected by the amendments to hold a limited GST registration. […]