Australia

In March 2024, the government legislated a revised phase of tax cuts to take effect from 1 July 2024. Under the new tax rate schedule, additional tax cuts were provided to lower income earners. See the Taxes on personal income section for more information.

Under the superannuation guarantee (SG) scheme, employers are required 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. From 1 July 2024, the SG percentage is 11.5% (up from 11%) and will remain so until 30 June 2025, after which time it will increase to 12%.  In addition, from 1 July 2024, the caps on the amount of contributions that can be made to complying superannuation funds have increased. See the Other taxes section for more information.

The state of Victoria has a short stay levy (7.5%) that will apply to fees charged for short stay accommodation in a Victorian property from 1 January 2025. See the Other taxes section for more information.

The Australian government plans to enter into many new and updated tax treaties, with a new treaty with Portugal signed on 30 November 2023 and a new treaty with Slovenia signed on 9 September 2024 (both yet to enter into force). The relatively recently signed treaty with Iceland has entered into force to apply from as early as 1 January 2024. See the Foreign tax relief and tax treaties 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 Tax administration section for more information.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) continues to run a number of targeted income tax compliance programs, the aim of which is to provide greater assurance to the community that high wealth private groups and individuals are paying the right amount of tax. See the Tax administration section for more information.