Australia

From 1 July 2026, ‘Payday Super’ applies and requires employers to make eligible superannuation guarantee [SG] contributions to an employee’s superannuation fund within seven business days of payday. See the Other taxes section for more information.

Small businesses (i.e. those with aggregated annual turnover of less than 10 million Australian dollars [AUD]) will be able to immediately deduct the full cost of eligible assets costing less than AUD 20,000, including those first used or installed ready for use beyond 30 June 2026. See the Deductions section for more information.

From 1 July 2027, any gains accruing on assets acquired prior to 20 September 1985 are now brought within the scope of capital gains tax [CGT]. Gains arising pre-1 July 2027 remain CGT exempt. See the Income determination section for more information. 

The Australian government plans to enter into an updated tax treaty with Canada, while the recently signed tax treaties with the governments of Portugal, Slovenia, the Ukraine and Croatia are yet to enter into force. See the Withholding taxes section for more information.  

Additional scrutiny is now applied to foreign investment proposals with certain tax characteristics likely to be considered higher risk. Furthermore, a ‘Register of foreign ownership of Australian assets’ (FIRB asset register) applies, requiring ‘foreign persons’ (which broadly covers foreign entities and Australian entities with upstream foreign ownership) to register a broad range of assets. See the Other issues section for more information.

Greater tax transparency measures apply to multinationals, including an obligation for certain large multinational groups with an Australian presence to publicly disclose certain tax information on a country-by-country basis. See the Other issues section for more information.

Companies registered for the goods and services tax (GST) that have received a GST assurance rating are required to lodge a supplementary annual GST return. See the Tax administration section for more information.

Australia will implement the OECD-developed Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF) from 2027, along with a domestic crypto tax reporting regime. See the Other issues section for more information.