Australia

Under the superannuation guarantee (SG) scheme, which requires employers to contribute a certain percentage of an employee's earnings base, subject to limited exceptions, to a registered superannuation fund or retirement savings account on behalf of the employee, the required SG percentage permanently increased to 12% from 1 July 2025. See the Other taxes section for more information.

Effective for income years commencing on or after 1 July 2024, debt deduction creation rules can apply to deny deductions for costs of related-party debt used to fund the acquisition of certain capital gains tax (CGT) assets from an associate or to fund certain payments and distributions to associates. See the Group taxation section for more information.

For contracts entered into from 1 January 2025, a non-final 15% withholding tax (previously 12.5%) applies to the gross proceeds of the sale of taxable Australian property by non-residents. See the Income determination 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.

Australia has implemented the Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) Rules, a key component of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's (OECD’s) Two-Pillar Solution to address the tax challenges of digitalisation of the economy. This includes the Income Inclusion Rule (IIR) and a domestic minimum tax (DMT) which apply to fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2024 and the Undertaxed Profits Rule (UTPR) applies to fiscal years starting on or after 1 January 2025. See the Taxes on corporate income 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 for income years commencing on or after 1 July 2024. See the Other issues section for more information.

From 1 July 2024, the state of Victoria has moved away from imposing stamp duty on the purchase of certain commercial or industry property to an annual commercial and industrial property tax (CIPT) for such properties with a ‘qualifying use’. The state of Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory now have a levy imposed on short-term accommodation stays. See the Other taxes section for more information.

Companies registered for the goods and services tax (GST) that have received a GST assurance rating will be required to lodge a supplementary annual GST return from the 2024/25 financial year. See the Tax administration section for more information.