Students who cannot afford to pay the university fees each year can accumulate the debt under the Higher Education Loan Program (HELP). Repayments are payable once their income exceeds a specified amount. The outstanding debt is indexed on 1 June each year.
Voluntary HELP payments can earn a discount to help reduce the debt. Parents looking for a Christmas gift for their children may wish to consider helping with the repayments.
Voluntary payments of $500 or more received by the ATO before 31 December 2011 will qualify for a 10% bonus. This reduces the debt by a further 10% of the voluntary repayment amount.
The ATO has launched a new Property webpage to provide practical guidance on the taxation aspects of property investment. This can help you understand the taxation impacts of your property investment.
The webpage includes information on the items below and can be found here:
Changes across tax, super and Centrelink were announced today as part of the Government’s Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO). With a need to find cost savings, some concessions have been cut and others deferred for another year.
A summary of new announcements is outlined below. These measures are proposals and legislation still needs to be introduced. (more…)
In the 2008-09 Budget, the Federal Government announced measures to reform income tests across the tax and transfer systems; these will come into effect from 1 July. This includes now taking into account items such as salary sacrifice superannuation contributions in benefit calculations. (more…)
