Economy · 19 d ago
Commonwealth of Australia (Department of the Treasury) · CC BY 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Australia moves to set a 30% minimum tax on discretionary trusts
Expected revenue in 2029-30
4.5 billion Australian dollars
Treasurer Jim Chalmers introduced the bill in parliament on Wednesday. The minimum tax starts on Jul 1, 2028, and is expected to raise 4.5 billion Australian dollars in 2029-30, its first year.
What the bill targets
discretionary trust
A discretionary trust lets its trustees change who receives its income and how much each year, which allows income to be split across a family. Trusts in Australia hold combined assets of 2.9 trillion Australian dollars.
Income through a family trust
12% average tax
The same income in wages
30% average tax
In a Treasury example, a family splitting 200,000 Australian dollars of trust income across four people pays an average tax rate of 12 per cent, while a worker earning the same in wages pays 30 per cent.
What's next
Small-business groups say up to 350,000 family firms face higher tax or costly restructuring, and opposition leader Angus Taylor vows to repeal it. Labor can pass the bill with the Greens, who plan to send it to a Senate inquiry first.
