Treasurer Scott Morrison (pictured) handed down the Budget on Tuesday night, grinning as he announced winner after winner
There’s $530-a-year tax cuts for low and middle income workers, billions splashed on roads and railways and plenty for baby boomers.
Treasurer Scott Morrison is tonight handing down his third Federal Budget – and there are millions of winners and losers.
People earning $90,000 a year or less are among the biggest winners. Workers can expect the equivalent of $10.50 a week to be tipped into their bank accounts under the government’s tax relief plan.
Struggling pensioners who grew up before compulsory superannuation are certain winners after the government pledged billions to support programs.
As are pregnant women, who will receive free whooping cough vaccinations from July 1.
‘It’s a plan for lower taxes and reducing the pressure on households,’ Mr Morrison said.
But young professionals, those in higher income tax brackets and dole recipients will be disappointed.
Here is Daily Mail Australia’s rundown of how Budget 2018 will affect you.
If you’re earn LESS than $90,000 a year…
When it comes to tax, low and middle income earners are the biggest winners of this year’s budget, thanks to the government’s ‘speed limit’ on taxes.
Mr Morrison presented a three-step tax plan which will see 10 million Australians receive up to $530 in tax relief during the 2018-19 financial year.
The tax offset will be accompanied by an increase in the middle tax bracket to $90,000.
The ‘rivers of gold’ predicted last week have translated into tax cuts for low and middle income earners (stock image)
Hitting back at claims the $10.20 a week dividend would be disappointing to many Australians, Mr Morrison claimed it was enough to pay for essentials.
Car registration, school uniforms and a book for a year are all things people could buy, he said.
‘Anyone who says $530 tax relief is ‘no relief’ is out of touch,’ he told reporters at Parliament House on Tuesday afternoon.
If you earn MORE than $90,000 a year…
Bad luck – you won’t be getting a cent in tax relief, at least this year.
The government claims it will deliver tax cuts to higher income earners in the years ahead.
It will increase its $90,000 tax relief threshold to $120,000 from July 1, 2022.
But there’s just one catch: you have to re-elect the Turnbull government.
Some workers will be better off thanks to the new tax relief – but others won’t (stock image)
The next highest 37 per cent bracket will be removed altogether in 2024-25, meaning millions will never be hit with bracket creep, Mr Morrison announced.
Small businesses are also set to reap the benefits of a further 12-month extension of the $20,000 instant asset write-off.
Big companies will see their corporate tax rate progressively reduced to around the OECD median by 2026.
If you are a baby boomer or have elderly relatives…
There are plenty of goodies on offer for the older generation – including an expansion of what has been dubbed the ‘baby boomer bonus’.
Before tonight’s Budget, pensioners could earn more than $6,500 a year before it affected their pension.
There is plenty on offer for the older generation, including an expansion of the ‘Pensioner Work Bonus’
The Treasurer announced tonight he will lift that earning cap. That will be a relief to older Australians who still work but also receive the age pension.
The government will also fund 20,000 new home care places to help older Australians stay at home for longer.
It will also expand a reverse-mortgage scheme which allows some pensioners to borrow against the value of their home.
If you drive or catch the train…
A whopping $24.5 billion will be poured into building infrastructure around the country which will, eventually, reduce travel time, the government claims.
Daily Mail Australia’s graphic, below, shows the biggest winners in the roads and railways splurge are commuters in Victoria – the recipient of $8 billion.
The most eye-popping promise is a $5 billion investment to build a rail link between Melbourne and Tullamarine Airport, 20km north of the city.
This map shows where the government will spend nearly $25billion on roads and rail networks
But it’s still many years before construction starts, with Mr Turnbull last month describing 2020 as an ‘ambitious’ target.
Mr Morrison has pledged more than $1bn to extend Perth’s Metronet network and $2 billion to improve the M1 Motorway, also known as the Pacific Highway which connects Sydney with Brisbane.
Another $1 billion will be used to expand the choked highway between Brisbane and the Gold Coast and more than $950 million to build a bypass near Coffs Harbour.
If you pay the Medicare Levy…
You won’t have to pay more tax.
Mr Morrison has scrapped a proposed 0.5 per cent increase in the Medicare Levy. He only proposed the hike last year.
Better-than-expected tax receipts mean the hike – introduced only last year – is no longer necessary, he said.
Mr Morrison announced the scrapping of a previously proposed 0.5 per cent Medicare levy increase (stock image)
‘The reason we proposed to increase the Medicare levy was only to fully fund the gap left behind by Labor on the (National Disability Insurance Scheme),’ Mr Morrison said.
‘We no longer believe we need to do this.’
If you are on the dole…
Despite the big business lobby calling for an increase to Newstart – better known as the dole – before the Budget was released there appeared little sign of a hike.
Most single people can earn about $538.80 a fortnight, or roughly $38.40 a day, on the unemployment program.
If you are expecting a baby….
A free whooping cough vaccine will be offered to all pregnant women from July 1, under new measures announced tonight.
Health Minister Greg Hunt paid tribute to two infants who died from the deadly disease as he announced the $40 million move this week.
Pregnant women are better off – with the government adding the whooping cough vaccine to the national immunisation program
‘I know what a devastating impact this disease can have on families and beautiful young children like Dana McCaffery and Riley Hughes,’ he said.
Vaccinating pregnant women is the most effective way to protect newborns from the illness, as newborns cannot be vaccinated until they are six weeks old.
Scott Morrison has touted ‘the likelihood of cheaper craft beer’
If you like craft beer…
It’s increasingly popular – and now the government will axe a 40 per cent tax on smaller kegs typically used by craft beer brewers.
The aim is to level the playing field between boutique breweries and mass producers.
‘This not only champions the craft brewers that we’ve all grown to love, it raises a very tantalising prospect for Australians: the likelihood of cheaper craft beer,’ Mr Morrison said.
But despite the government’s claims, there’s not much evidence craft brewers will slash prices substantially.
If you are environmentalist…
It’s the world’s biggest living thing – and the government last weekend announced a half-a-billion dollar plan to save the Great Barrier Reef.
The reef has been reeling from bouts of coral bleaching and the threat of climate change.
Just this month, scientists recently revealed a 2016 heatwave had resulted in a ‘catastrophic die-off’ of coral.
The Government said the funds will go towards improving water quality, fighting off the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish and restoring corals.