Australia

In March 2024, the Goivernment 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, 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, from 1 July 2022, the SG percentage is 11% (up from 10.5%) and will remain so until 30 June 2024, at which time it will increase to 11.5%. 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. 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.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) continues to run its high wealth private groups tax performance programme, which covers Australian resident individuals who, together with their associates, control wealth of more than 50 million Australian dollars (AUD). The aim of this programme is to provide greater assurance to the community that high wealth private groups are paying the right amount of tax. It also has a Personal Income Tax Compliance Program, which focuses on non-compliance and addressing emerging areas of risk, such as deductions relating to short-term rental properties. See the Tax administration section for more information.