While most young people probably didn’t tune into the Budget announcement by Treasurer Wayne Swan they sure were talking about it online given #ausbudget09 and #budget09 were trending topics on Twitter last night. Perhaps it’s the current concern over the state of the economy that has got everyone involved but deservingly so, because they will cop the recovery of the $57.6bn deficit!
Youth Allowance and Abstudy
But not all was doom and gloom because if you are a student looking to Youth Allowance and Abstudy as income support, the parental income test for these dependants will be increased from $32,800 to $42,559 from 1 July. This means more students should qualify for the support (than they normally wouldn’t have) and thus be able to receive an extra buck to drink at that university bar.
First Home Buyers
For those who are first home buyers and have been trawling through every property inspection most weekends (along with hundreds of other keen property beans) than the 30 June deadline for the boosted first home owner grant will be extended for another six months. That means inflationary home prices will continue, the number of people you are competing with for that house/apartment will carry on and your real estate agent’s number should still be on your speed-dial. But it does mean that up til 30 September, the grant will be the full $14,000 for existing homes and $21,000 for developed (new) homes. However, it will reduce to $10,500 for existing homes and $14,000 for developed homes from 1 October til 31 December. So the flurry of fun in the real estate market will remain.
Health Insurance
From 1 July 2010, a new tiered measure will affect how much government rebate you can claim, thus affecting the amount of your health insurance premiums per month. The existing 30% rebate will remain for young people with earning less than $75,000 per annum, but for salaries more than $75,000 per year the rebate will be reduced to 25%, and for salaries of $90,000 and above, the rebate will be reduced to 10%. Start assessing what bang for your buck you can squeeze out of your health insurers!
Infrastructure & transport spending to create jobs
Given the extra government spending on rail, road and infrastructure networks those studying engineering and currently working in the industry should mean additional job opportunities and project involvement. This extends to those in the country regions such as the Hunter Valley.
A Greener Nation
And while the carbon emissions trading scheme have been delayed, at least we can see the Government’s commitment to building a greener nation by the $4.5bn allocated to low emission coal technologies and solar initiatives. That means a lot more a cleaner future for all of us, we should hope!
From the AusTax team.
The #1 provider of Australian tax news on twitter.
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