Canberra, Oct 9 Nearly A$50 billion in business and personal income tax cuts have passed the Australian Parliament, just days after being announced in the Federal Budget which was unveiled earlier this week.
In a statement, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the cuts formed the backbone of the Budget's response to the coronavirus-induced recession, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) reported.
"This was all in the Budget Speech on Tuesday night from the Treasurer, and it's law on Friday. This is real change.
"This is the plan that has been legislated, made law in our Parliament, in three days. That's how serious we are about our plan," he was quoted as saying.
The changes will bring forward planned income tax cuts for millions of Austral and backdate them to July of this year, and allow businesses that make new investments to write off their entire cost in one year.
It also brings forward income tax cuts planned for 2022 and temporarily retains a bridging measure designed to let low and middle income earners receive the cuts early.
Meanwhile, the stage two changes alter the boundaries of the 32.5 per cent income tax bracket, meaning people will pay 19 cents or less for every dollar they earn up to A$45,000, then 32.5 per cent on every dollar earned between that and A$120,000.
The income tax cuts are worth A$17.8 billion over four years, while business tax cuts and other measures are worth A$31.5 billion, bringing the cost of the package to the Budget bottom line close to A$50 billion.
( With inputs from IANS )
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