Latest news with #July1
News.com.au
2 days ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Fair Work Commission to hand down Annual Wage Review, Aussies on minimum wage to get pay bump
Australians on the minimum wage are set to receive a pay increase on Tuesday, with Australia's top union boss urging the body to boost annual full time pay by $2143. An expert panel will hand down the decision in Sydney at 10am on Tuesday. While the Albanese government has called for the independent arbitrator to provide an increase above inflation, currently at 2.4 per cent, the ACTU is lobbying for a much higher boost of 4.5 per cent. For about 2.6 million Aussies on the minimum wage that would hike their hourly wage to $25.18 per hour, lifting the packet for an annual full-time worker by $2143 to $49,770. The changes will come into effect from July 1. ACTU national secretary Sally McManus said low paid workers had 'gone backwards' after years of high inflation and high interest rates. She said any wage increase below 2.4 per cent would be 'manifestly wrong and unfair,' and the new rate should allow people to 'get ahead and catch up'. 'The Fair Work Commission couldn't award increases that kept up with inflation when inflation spiked, but they did say that people needed to catch up, and it was just a matter of working out when things are more stable and favourable,' she told NewsWire. 'We say they're more favourable now. 'All of those businesses got through that period of time by putting up their prices … but workers can't adjust their pay like they these low paid workers are dependent on this (once-a-year) decision.' Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth has previously called for 'an economically responsible real wage increase' while stating that the 'setting of the minimum wage is a matter for the Fair Work Commission'. 'We do need to consider the economic conditions, but we also believe that in those economic conditions, workers deserve a real wage increase,' she said in May. Currently, the minimum wage is $24.10 per hour, which equates to $915.90 or an annual full-time salary of $47,627.06.
Daily Mail
20-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Aussie smoker lashes tough new laws on cigarettes: 'Controlling measure'
An Aussie smoker has lashed the latest changes to the country's cigarette laws, arguing the government intervention is about 'control' instead of health. Menthol, rum and clove-flavoured cigarettes and those with crush balls in the filter will be banned in an attempt to make smoking as unappealing as possible. The new measures will also outlaw certain ingredients, flavours and accessories. A woman, who said she only smoked when she had a drink, questioned the real motive for the tough new laws on cigarettes due to take effect on July 1. 'The lady I spoke to at the tobacconist said it was more of a controlling measure in Australia,' she said in a TikTok video. 'We're already paying enough and yes we choose to smoke nicotine. 'I just don't think it's right for the government to control what we're buying because we're already paying for it.' 'To find out that you cannot buy a 25 pack, a 30 pack, a 40 pack, a 50 pack…you can only buy a 20-pack from the first of July, that's just unbelievable. I don't have words. 'I just feel it's bulls***. I'd love to hear your opinion. I'm just like 'what the f***.' The video sparked debate from both sides and garnered almost 2,500 comments. 'We should all get together and petition - if you don't smoke, awesome. But for the smokers - it's our life, we are adults. We know the dangers. The government has no right to gouge the way they do and control us,' one wrote. 'As a non-smoker I find this really wrong,' a second said. 'The government should not be controlling people who smoke. The government already make enough out of smokers,' another said. Many questioned why the government didn't apply the same laws to alcohol. 'Imagine they treated alcohol the same as smokes,' a third wrote. 'Only basic spirits, no differences in flavour, in the same non-description packaging covered in warnings and only in a hip flask size but taxed to the roof. It wouldn't happen but alcohol is more dangerous to communities and has as many health risks.' 'All the people commenting about smokers costing the health system. No problem drinking, no problem gambling, no problem obesity. Are you serious,' another agreed. Cigarette manufacturers will also be banned from using words like 'smooth' and 'gold' because they can create the false impression that some products were less harmful. Cigarette prices in Australia are among the highest in the world due to heavy taxation. A standard 20 pack costs more than $50, depending on the brand, with 70 per cent of the retail price ($35) going to the government in excise tax. Cigarette excise taxes actually increase twice a year. On March 1, the tax per cigarette rose by 2.8 per cent to $1.27816, up from $1.24335. The regular tax hikes on cigarettes have created a booming black market, with millions now buying illegal, counterfeit cigarettes sold in convenience stores. Despite the tax increases, government revenue from tobacco has plummeted due to fewer people buying the expensive product - dropping 39 per cent in just four years, from a peak of $16billion in 2019/20 to $9.8billion in 2023/24. The ATO estimated that nearly one in five cigarettes smoked in Australia came from criminal syndicates that evade taxes and sell at deep discounts. Illegal cigarettes are significantly cheaper, costing between $10 and $20 per pack—less than half the price of legal smokes.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Major ATO change would see Aussies never file a tax return again: 'Trend will continue'
Simple tax returns could look different in the future under a major change in the way the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) does its annual assessments. At the moment, your tax return has to be submitted after July 1, which outlines your taxable income and any deductions that you wish to make. H&R Block's Mark Chapman told Yahoo Finance it can be "particularly stressful" making sure you dot every I and cross every T each year. However, this experience could be tweaked thanks to the data that the ATO is already able to collect about you. The ATO's Second Commissioner, Jeremy Hirschhorn, said tax time might soon be made even simpler. RELATED ATO 'hit list' revealed for 15 million Aussies as taxpayer's common claim targeted Accountant reveals $37 meal expense the ATO lets workers claim on tax: 'Without a receipt' $6 million cost Coles and Woolworths pay that Aldi refuses to cave on 'More and more information like interest and dividend income, standardised investment trust data, salary, health insurance data, and information about contractors are all going directly into tax systems,' he said. 'This trend will continue, and we'll see the classic concept of 'self-assessment' being gradually replaced with 'assisted assessment'. Those with a fairly straightforward tax return every year could be provided with a "comprehensive picture of their own data" when July 1 rolls around, which would take into account all these investments and costs. Under this new-look system, you would simply have to hit 'confirm' if all the data matched up with your own records. This type of "assisted assessment" wouldn't be available for those who have much more complex tax returns, as there are some data points that the ATO wouldn't be privy said this possible overhaul can be achieved by the way the ATO deals with information from "third parties". These third parties include financial institutions like banks, investment bodies, employers, health insurers and government agencies. Many of them are required to hand over their tax and financial information, which the ATO Second Commissioner said "fuels how taxpayers of all sizes interact with their tax obligations". Think of it in the way that your tax return can come pre-filled with information from your employer about what you've been paid. Back in the day, you would have had to source that information yourself, but it's increasingly being provided for you to make tax time efficient, accurate, and transparent. Because more data from more entities are complying with the ATO, it will have a better picture of you than ever before and you won't have to provide that information because the tax office will already know. 'Third-party data gives administrators the ability to feed information into the system that makes complying easier, and importantly, not complying harder," he said. Hirschhorn added that this harvesting of third-party data could increase in the future and, therefore, make your tax return even simpler. The tax system used to rely on four pillars of tax compliance, which were registration, lodgement, payment, and correct reporting. This put a huge emphasis on the individual taxpayer to make sure everything was accurate. But third-party reporting has been carved out as the fifth pillar and has become a far more precise method of correct reporting. "Modern tax administrators... will be asking for new data sources from companies holding relevant information, and tax systems will increasingly be defined around the fifth pillar of third-party data, rather than vice while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data
