starting july 1st backpackers will pay a 32% flat rate of tax on every dollar earned. no more tax free threshold. the agriculture sector is saying it will be a big blow to the industry with labour shortages due to decreased backpacker numbers. i know all the backpackers i work with are saying they will holiday here but work elsewhere. my boss who has a small farm says he's for it citing it will make it harder for the mega farmers to get labour, giving the little guys more of a go. oppinions, insights..........?
I am surprised they didnt introduce it on Anzac day ... while the nation kids itself about those that served our country ... and at the same time back the banks for a few extra pennies while they still can afford to play two up .... nah Australia is now a corporation ... so they make it from the start of the new financial year ....
The worst part is going to be missing the young attractive German bargirls with the large racks and tight t-shirts serving you behind the bar. You all know the ones I'm talking about, so don't act like you don't
Hopefully it will mean more vacancies for locals. I'm completely cool with tourists, but you gotta look out for your own first. It's just too bad that the extra tax income will be wasted. :/ In any case, I believe backpackers have ways to reduce their tax
There's already plenty of vacancies for the locals. They don't turn up at the farm proactively looking for work like the foriegn backpackers do. they're at centerlink getting free money. Nothing is stopping school leavers door knocking, except pride and poor work ethic. Every young local person that has started here hasn't been worth having anyway.
Link please citing this is new? It has long been the case that non-residents are not entitled to the tax free threshold....
Also worth mentioning that second year visas that used to be available to woofing or volunteer worker backbackers could be signed off on after 3 months work whether paid or not. Now only paid work is allowed to fulfill second year visa requirements. Which is why this tax increase/change. Any backpacker now needs to be doing paid work to secure a second year on their working holiday visa and pay at company tax levels. Collectively all together it definitely is a backpacker tax. But it means that farmers already cant afford to be paying them instead of woofing and now they will be taxed high too anyway (completely negating the argument that the government put forward that it was to help the poor backpackers from being taken advantage of by the unscrupulous terrible farmers). Load of BS and just a clever way to try and "improve our tourism import dollars". That'll happen on its own when the AUD hits 55c.....
I was a non-resident I was entitled to it Tax hike has been shelved for six months "pending review". The industry is worth $3.5bn so guess there was plenty of backlash.
This one where metro backpacker and regional farming area should have different tiers. In regional area with seasonal jobs I can see a benefit of zero working holiday tax But in major cities slug them with higher tax rate or bar them altogether and simultaneously cut off dole to under 30 (exempt diability and mental) after 8 weeks. I remember 22 to 26 working all kind of jobs, sometimes two or three part time jobs. Some bloody Hard work, some tedious but some great fun. Too many twenty year olds thinking dole is good enough, living at home or shared housing. Plenty of jobs around if they don't think a job is beneath them!
