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Australian pensioners will secure a one-off cash bonus of $250 as part of the government’s plan to ease cost of living pressures.
The $250 payment will also be provided to low income families that rely on income support, however parents on family payments will not receive the cash boost.
Daily Mail Australia understands the payment has been set at a modest $250 to ensure it does not put pressure on inflation.
The payment is officially set to be announced by Scott Morrison on budget day, which has been set for March 29th.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is set to announce the $250 payment on budget day
Those eligible for the payment include pensioners and low income families that rely on income support
Last Wednesday, Mr Morrison hinted that he was leaning towards one-off payments rather than any permanent reforms.
‘We said we would be targeted in the supports that we provided, that they would have a start date and they’d have a stop date, that there’d be a pathway in and there’d be a pathway out,’ he said.
‘We must be targeted in the things that we do, so we don’t add to those inflationary pressures.’
The payments to millions of low income earners come prices of food and petrol soar
Mr Morrison is under pressure to reduce the fuel tax of 44.2c-a-litre but has refused to reveal if he will do this.
He has also kept quiet on whether he will extend the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset (LMITO), an end-of-financial-year rebate of up to $1,080 for those earning under $126,000.
The offset was due to end when stage two tax cuts came into play but Mr Morrison kept it in place for an extra two years as a form of Covid stimulus.
In the budget due on March 29, the government is expected to offer ‘temporary and targeted support’ for lower and middle income earners struggling with price rises but the exact nature of this is unclear.
Mr Morrison is expected to call an election for mid May shortly after the Budget.
There will some relief to welfare recipients in March 20 when the Jobseeker rate, age pension, disability support pension, and carer payments are all set to rise by up to $20 per fortnight.
But Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the increase is too meagre to offset price hikes for essentials such as petrol and food.
‘At the moment, families are under massive pressure. Everything is going up,’ he said.
How millions of Australians are expected to score a $1,080 tax break for a FOURTH time as Scott Morrison splashes cash in the federal budget
Scott Morrison’s $1,080 handout will likely return for millions of Australians when the federal budget is announced later this month.
The low and middle income tax offset, first introduced by the prime minister when he was treasurer in 2018, is expected to be part of the government’s stage one tax cuts.
The scheme was extended twice in 2020 and 2021 at a cost of $7.8 billion and was to reach its end on June 20.
Low to middle income earners could see an extension of the $1080 tax break in this month’s budget (pictured: a Melbourne coffee shop)
The tax break is worth up to $1,080 for singles earning less than $126,000, while couples can get up to $2,160.
In February, Treasurer Josh Frydenberg wouldn’t confirm the LMITO would return but did not rule it out.
‘We haven’t made a decision about the low and middle income tax offset, but we have legislated significant structural reform as well as bringing forward stage two of the tax cuts,’ he told the ABC.
‘And that is already seeing money roll out into people’s pockets, particularly for young people and for young women. If you’re a woman who’s 25 and under you’ve seen more than $2,000 of tax relief on average.’
But speaking on Friday, Mr Frydenberg hinted surging prices of petrol and food would see a return of the scheme.
He said the government focused in 2020 and 2021 on lowering electricity prices by eight per cent, investing $10 billion a year in childcare, and providing $30 billion of tax relief for low and middle income earners.
‘In the budget in less than two weeks’ time, there will be further measures to support families to meet the cost-of-living pressures, in a targeted and proportionate way,’ he said.
Research from Australian National University found the LIMTO was more beneficial for higher income households.
The top 40 per cent of household earners had their income raised by 1.6 per cent due to the scheme compared to 0.7 per cent for the bottom 40 per cent.
Source: DailyMail
