Low and middle income earners
If you are an Australian resident for income tax purposes and you pay tax on your taxable income, you may be eligible for both the:
- low income tax offset
- low and middle income tax offset.
You don’t have to do anything to claim the offsets. We will work them out for you when you lodge your tax return.
Tax offsets reduce the amount of tax payable on taxable income. These are non-refundable offsets, so the following applies:
- any eligible offset amount can only reduce your tax payable to zero, any unused offset amount can’t be refunded
- it can’t reduce your Medicare levy.
If you are under 18 as at 30 June of the income year and you have unearned income, these offsets can’t reduce the tax payable on this income.
Low income tax offset
If your taxable income is less than $66,667, you will get the low income tax offset.
The maximum tax offset of $445 applies if your taxable income is $37,000 or less. This amount is reduced by 1.5 cents for each dollar over $37,000.
Low and middle income tax offset
If your taxable income is less than $126,000, you will get some of the low and middle income tax offset. The maximum offset is $1,080 per annum. The base amount is $255 per annum.
The amount of the offset you are entitled to will depend on your individual circumstances, such as your income level and how much tax you have paid throughout the year.
In other words, you might not be entitled to the full $1,080. You are not required to do anything to claim the low and middle income tax offset, we will work out how much you are entitled to and include it in your tax return.
The new low and middle income tax offset is available for the 2018–19, 2019–20, 2020–21 and 2021–22 income years and is in addition to the low income tax offset.
Source: Australian Taxation Office
Date: 2nd November 2019
If you require assistance lodging your taxation return, contact Coffs Coast Consulting on
(02) 5606 3692.
