The 2018-2019 Australian Budget will affect the calculation of payroll for Australian employees. This section will outline a number of tax changes that will need to be made for the financial year.

Maximum Contribution Base

  • Maximum super contributions base increases from $52,760 to $54,030 per quarter.

Superannuation Percentage

  • Will remain at 9.50% up until 30 June 2021.

ETP Cap

  • Life Benefit termination payment ETP cap will increase from $200,000 to $205,000.
  • Death Benefit termination payment ETP cap will also increase from $200,000 to $205,000.

The Whole of Income cap remains at $180,000 as this is a non-indexed figure.

If you are using our DataPay Payroll application these changes have already been programmed into the software.

Redundancy: Tax Free Limit

  • Tax-free base amount increases from $10,155 to $10,399 for the first year.
  • Tax -free amount for completed years of service increases from $5,078 to $5,200.

Our DataPay Payroll application can calculate the Redundancy Tax-Free Limit through the Termination Wizard.

Concessional Superannuation Cap (for employer contributions and salary sacrifice amounts)

  • For all individuals the cap remains at $25,000 regardless of age.

Co-contributions (for personal after tax super contributions)

The Government Co-Contribution scheme will increase from 1 July 2018.

  • The lower income threshold will be $37,697.
  • The higher income threshold will be $52,697.
  • The maximum Co-Contribution will remain at $500 for 2018-2019.

Non-Concessional Superannuation Cap (for personal after tax super contributions)

The general transfer balance cap will remain at $1.6m for 2018-19.

Payroll tax rates and thresholds

Most states will remain the same with the exception of NSW, TAS, VIC and WA.

State

Rate

Regional Rate

Threshold

ACT

6.85%

 

2,000,000

NSW

5.45%

 

850,000

NT

5.50%

 

1,500,000

QLD

4.75%

 

1,100,000

TAS¹

4.00% or 6.10%

 

1.25 Mil – 2 Mil or over 2 Mil

VIC

4.85%

2.425%

650,000

SA²

2.50% or 4.95%

 

600,000 – less 1 Mil over 1.5 Mil

WA³

5.50%

 

850,000

 

TAS¹

Does not exceed $1.25 million

Exceeds $1 250 001 million but not $2 million

Exceeds $2 000 001

 

1 July 2018

Nil

4.00%

6.10%

 

SA²

Does not exceed $600,000

Exceeds $600,000
but not $1 million

Exceeds $1 million
but not $1.5 million

Exceeds $1.5 million

1 July 2018

Nil

2.5%

2.5% - 4.95%

4.95%

WA³

More than $850,000 but less than $7.5 million

$7.5 million or more but not exceeding $100 million

More than $100 million but not exceeding $1.5 billion

More than $1.5 billion

1 July 2018

5.50%

5.50%

6.00%

6.50%


2018-19 ANNUAL WAGE REVIEW

The Fair Work Commission announced their decision for the 2018-19 Annual Wage review:

  • The national minimum wage will increase by 3.50% to $719.20 per week, with the minimum hourly rate rising to $18.93 per hour.

The increase only applies to employees that get their pay rates from:

• The national minimum wage

• A modern award or

• A registered agreement (in some cases)

The increase won’t affect employees who are already getting paid more than the new minimum wages.

Higher Education Loan Program (HELP), Student Start-Up Loan (SSL) and Trade Support Loan (TSL)

2018-2019 repayment income threshold and rates for HELP, SSL, ABSTUDY SSL AND TSL:

Repayment Income

Repayment Rate

Below $51,957

Nil

$51,957 - $57,729

2.0%

$57,730 - $64,306

4.0%

$64,307 - $70,881

4.5%

$70,882 - $74,607

5.0%

$74,608 - $80,197

5.5%

$80,198 - $86,855

6.0%

$86,856 - $91,425

6.5%

$91,426 - $100,613

7.0%

$100,614 - $107,213

7.5%

$107,214 and above

8.0%

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the Datacom Support Team on 1-800-048-006. Should you require further information please visit the Australian Tax Office (ATO) website through our Useful Links page.