Changes to income tax rates
The Australian Government has made changes to individual income tax rates and thresholds. This change will apply to all taxable income you earn from 1 July 2024. This means from 1 July, for most taxpayers, you will pay less tax each payday and keep more of what you earn. The changes will not impact your 2023-24 tax return.
Cents per kilometre increase
If you're claiming work-related car expenses using the cents per kilometre method, this rate has increased to 85c per kilometre for the 2023-24 income year.
The cents per kilometre rate is an all-inclusive rate and covers all of your eligible car expenses including registration, insurance, repairs, maintenance, fuel, and decline in value. You can't claim a deduction for these costs separately, elsewhere in your return.
Electric vehicle home charging rate
From 1 July 2022, if you own and drive an electric vehicle for work purposes, you can claim 4.2c per kilometre to determine the cost of your electricity, as long as you:
- use a zero emissions electric vehicle for gaining or producing assessable income
- incur electricity expenses when charging their electric vehicle at home, and
- have kept the relevant records for the income year.
If you choose to use this rate and can't accurately determine the home charging percentage, commercial charging station costs incurred can’t be claimed as a separate deduction.
Alternatively, you can choose to claim the electricity used for charging by determining the actual cost incurred. For more information, see Practical Compliance Guideline PCG 2024/2 Electric vehicle home charging rate – calculating electricity costs when a vehicle is charged at an employee's or individual's home.
If you don't have odometer records from the start of the 2022–23 or 2023–24 income or FBT year, you can use a reasonable estimate of your service records, logbooks or other available information. For income years the start date is 1 July 2022 or 1 July 2023. For fringe benefit tax years the start date is 1 April 2022 or 1 April 2023.
This guidance does not apply to plug-in hybrid vehicles, electric motorcycles or electric scooters and is only relevant to clients claiming car expenses using the logbook method.
Self-education deductions: where to claim
From the 2023-24 income year, all eligible deductions for work-related self-education expenses will be claimed at Self-education expenses in your tax return.
Previously, formal education courses provided by professional associations, seminars, education workshops or conferences connected to work were claimed at Other work-related expenses in your tax return.
This doesn’t change the types of expenses or the amounts of deductions you can claim, only the question at which you claim them.
This change is limited to expenses currently claimed at Self-education expenses and Other work-related expenses only.
Motor vehicle and travel expenses may still be claimed at the Work-related car expenses and Work-related travel expenses questions.
Reporting trust distributions
From the 2024 income year, if you received one or more distributions from trusts, you must report the distributions you receive.
For information to help you report the distributions and who must report, see either:
- myTax 2024 Trusts if lodging online
- Trust income schedule and instructions 2024 if lodging your tax return by paper.
For more information, see Modernisation of Trust Administration Systems (MTAS).
Effective life determination for depreciating assets
We're updating how we publish effective life determinations.
Use the effective life of a depreciating asset to work out its decline in value. You can either make your own estimate of its effective life or use the Commissioner's effective life determinations. For assistance with both, see Effective life of an asset.
Disaster payments and grants
If you are affected by a natural disaster, you may have received a relief payment from:
- local, state or federal government agencies
- a charity or community group
- your employer.
Some payments are non-assessable non-exempt (NANE) income. This means it is a non-taxable payment and you don’t need to include it in your tax return.
If you have carried forward losses from an earlier income year, you will need to reduce that amount by any exempt income.
For payments you receive from a local, state or federal government agency, you need to understand what type of payment it is and how it affects your tax. You may need to include the payments in your tax return, although you may not pay tax on them.
To find out if the payment you receive is tax free, tax exempt, NANE income or taxable and if you need to include it in your tax return, see Reporting disaster payments and grants in your tax return.
Territories Stolen Generations Redress Scheme
The Territories Stolen Generations Redress SchemeExternal Link is administered by the National Indigenous Australians Agency. The Scheme is for survivors of the Stolen Generations who were removed as children from their families whilst in the Northern Territory or the Australian Capital Territory (prior to their respective self-government) or the Jervis Bay Territory.
The Scheme is a financial and wellbeing package that opened on 1 March 2022 and will close on 30 June 2026. You can apply anytime between 1 March 2022 and 28 February 2026.
The Territories Stolen Generations Redress scheme payments are non-assessable non-exempt (NANE) income. This means it is a non-taxable payment and you don’t need to include it in your tax return.
Downsizer contributions
The age an eligible individual can make a downsizer contribution to their superannuation has changed.
If you have reached the eligible age, you (each individual) may be able to contribute up to $300,000 from the proceeds of the sale (or part sale) of your home into your superannuation fund.
To make a downsizer contribution; the eligible age is as follows:
- From 1 January 2023, 55 years old or older
- From 1 July 2022, 60 years old or older
- From 1 July 2018, 65 years old or older.
For the full eligibility criteria and other details, see Downsizer contributions for individuals.
Veterans' super (invalidity pension) tax offset (VSTO)
Wait until the last week of July to lodge your tax return. This will ensure we have the data available to calculate and apply any VSTO entitlement. It also means other pre-filled information, such as your bank interest and private health information, will be available making lodging easier.
You don’t need to apply for the VSTO. We will work out if you are entitled to a VSTO amount after you lodge your tax return.
To check your eligibility for the tax offset, see Veterans' superannuation (invalidity pension) tax offset.
Enhanced pre-fill for Australian Government pensions and allowances
From 1 July 2024, you can no longer delete or remove the pre-filled Australian Government benefit types for 'Allowance' or 'Pension' payments. Our pre-fill service now provides greater certainty for your Australian Government benefit data. When you access your pre-fill information, you'll see an indicator when the record is 'high certainty' data.
This affects benefits like Newstart, Youth allowance, Jobseeker, Austudy, Age Pension, Disability Support Pension and the tax withheld from Australian Government allowances and pensions.
If you want to change the Australian Government allowance or pension data where a 'high certainty' indicator is present, or the tax withheld being reported, you'll need to provide a reason from the drop-down menu for the change. If the reasons we provide don’t apply to your situation, select 'Other' and provide specific details.
If you make a change, you're not required to provide supporting documents, but we may contact you if we need more information.