WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 1982
TAX CONCESSIONS TO BENEFIT 300 000
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THE FINANCIAL SECRETARY, THE HON JOHN BREMRIDGE, IN HIS FIRST BUDGET, HAS PROPOSED CONSIDERABLE CONCESSIONS IN THE PERSONAL TAXATION WHICH WILL BENEFIT ABOUT 300 000 TAXPAYERS.
THE NEW ALLOWANCES ARE:
* AN INCREASE IN THE LEVEL OF PERSONAL ALLOWANCES FROM
$15 000 TO $20 500 FOR SINGLE PERSONS AND FROM $30 000 TO $41 000 FOR MARRIED COUPLES-
* AN INCREASE IN THE CHILD ALLOWANCES FROM $7 000 TO $8 000
FOR THE FIRST CHILD AND FROM $5 000 TO $5 500 FOR THE SECOND CHILD, ALLOWANCES FOR THE THIRD TO NINTH CHILDREN WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED- AND
* AN INCREASE IN THE DEPENDENT PARENT ALLOWANCE FROM $7 000
TO $8 000.
THE PRESENT SUPPLEMENTARY PERSONAL ALLOWANCES OF $7 500 FOR A SINGLE PERSON AND $15 000 FOR A MARRIED PERSON WILL REMAIN UNCHANGED, AND THE AVAILABLE CLAW-BACK MECHANISM WILL CONTINUE TO BE ZERO RATED. TAKEN TOGETHER THE BASIC PERSONAL ALLOWANCE PLUS SUPLEMENTARY ALLOWANCE, THE TAX THRESHOLD FOR A SINGLE PERSON WILL BE INCREASED FROM $22 500 TO $28 000 AND FROM $45 000 TO $56 000 FOR A MARRIED COUPLE. THE NEW ALLOWANCES WILL BE, THEREFORE, VERY NEARLY 25 PER CENT HIGHER THAN THE PRESENT LEVELS FIXED A YEAR AGO.
THESE INCREASED ALLOWANCES WILL KEEP AN ESTIMATED 92 000 PEOPLE, WHO WOULD OTHERWISE BE BROUGHT INTO THE TAX NET, OUT OF IT. THEY COMPRISED 52 000 TAXPAYERS WHO WERE PREVIOUSLY LIABLE TO TAX AND 40 000 OTHERS WHO WOULD HAVE BECOME LIABLE IN 1982-83 WITHOUT THESE CONCESSIONS.
ABOUT 218 000 WILL REMAIN IN THE TAX NET. OF THESE SOME 205 000 WILL BENEFIT BY WAY OF REDUCED LIABILITY.
UNDER THE PROPOSED CONCESSIONS, THE TAX LIABILITY OF A SINGLE PERSON WITH AN ANNUAL INCOME OF $36 ̊000 WILL BE REDUCED FROM $850 TO $400, A SAVING OF $450 OR 52.9 PER CENT.
FOR A MARRIED COUPLE WITH NO CHILDREN EARNING $96 000 A YEAR, THEIR TAX LIABILITY WILL BE REDUCED FROM $7 750 TO $5 000, A SAVING OF $2 750 OR 35.5 PER CENT. THE TAX SAVING FOR A MARRIED COUPLE WITH TWO CHILDREN AT THE SAME INCOME LEVEL WILL BE $2 325 OR 48.4 PER CENT.
UNDER THE NEW ALLOWANCES, THE INCOME LEVELS AT WHICH SALARIES TAXPAYERS ENTER THE STANDARD RATE ZONE WILL BE RAISED FROM $106 250 TO $120 000 FOR A SINGLE PERSON AND FROM $162 500 TO $190 000 FOR A MARRIED COUPLE WITH NO CHILDREN.
/COMPARED WITH