Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann

The Turnbull Government has delivered income tax relief for hard-working Australian families.

In passing our Personal Income Tax plan through the Parliament, the Government has ensured all Australians paying tax will be better off. They will be paying less tax, and they will be rewarded for their hard work both now and into the future.

Taxes in this country will now be lower, fairer and simpler

This is a win for working Australians who want to get ahead. They will have the certainty that when they earn more, when they get a pay rise or work more hours, they won’t face ever-increasing tax rates.

Under the Turnbull Government plan that has passed the Parliament today, 94 per cent of Australian workers will not face a higher marginal tax rate of more than 32.5c in the dollar.

As Australians we are lucky to live in a country in which we are able to work, aspire to earn more and not be penalised for it.

Our plan is not about creating winners and losers. It wasn’t designed to pit Australians against each other. We are not putting up taxes on some Australians to pay for tax relief for other Australians.

This is a plan that all Australians share in and will benefit from. It is a plan where all working Australians win. Your income is your money. You earned it. You deserve to keep more of it.

Our plan is fair.  Australia will continue to have a progressive income tax system, with those on the highest incomes paying most of the tax. Higher income earners will account for an even greater share of tax revenue than they do today.  

Our legislated plan has three steps:

One. Tax relief for middle and low income earners now. In 2018-19 over 10 million taxpayers will get tax relief, with 4.4 million Australians receiving the full $530 benefit.

Two. Lifting tax brackets, to protect Australians from the impact of ‘bracket creep’, taking the $87,000 tax threshold to $90,000 in 2018-19 and then to $120,000 in 2022-23. Tax relief provided under the offset in step 1 will also be locked in from 2022-23 by taking the $37,000 tax threshold to $41,000, and lifting the low income tax offset to $645.

Three. Ensuring more Australians pay less tax by making personal taxes simpler, removing an entire tax bracket, that will mean around 94 per cent of taxpayers are projected to face a tax rate of 32.5 per cent or less.

Our tax plan’s first priority is low and middle income earners because we understand that the benefits of a growing economy have not yet flowed to all.

They will enjoy the benefits of lower taxes for many years and those benefits will be locked in as part of stage 2 which addresses bracket creep.

Stages 2 and 3 fix some real flaws in our tax system that are killing aspiration and preventing Australians from being rewarded for their effort.

Labor doesn’t share in the aspiration of Australians to earn more and provide opportunities for their families.

They stand for higher taxes on all Australian wage earners, and higher taxes on the businesses that employ them.

By pledging to reverse stages 2 and 3 of our now legislated tax relief, Labor has admitted it will rip $70 billion in extra income tax from working Australians’ pay packets over the next ten years.

Under Labor, Australians will work for our tax system.

Under the Government’s legislated plan, the tax system works for all Australians.