Federal Budget 2020 Insights

Below, we bring you the key taxation reforms announced by the Treasurer, the Hon. Josh Frydenberg in the 2020/21 Australian Federal Budget. This year's budget was always going to be shaped by the devastating impact on the Australian economy of recent natural disasters (bushfires, floods and drought) and the global COVID-19 pandemic. The Government's primary focus in the budget is on job creation as the key to Australia's economic recovery.

As part of this jobs strategy, key taxation stimulus measures announced by the Treasurer were:

• bringing forward stage two of the Government's Personal Income Tax Plan by two years with personal income tax relief for lower and middle income earners (in the form of an increase to the low income tax offset and increases in the top threshold of each of the 19% and 32.5% tax brackets), back-dated to 1 July 2020, as well as retaining the low and middle income tax offset in 2020/21;