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Federal Budget 2025: Key Takeaways
- 26 March 2025
- by Tim Olynyk | Partner | Tax Advisory
- 3-minute read
On 25 March 2025, Jim Chalmers delivered the 2025/26 Federal Budget. With a Federal Election looming and with uncertainty on the outlook of the global economy, the Government has delivered a Federal Budget focussed on cost-of-living relief measures rather than fundamental tax reform measures. Read more in our roundup on the Federal Budget below.
Jim Chalmers projected that the 2024/25 financial year would deliver a budget deficit of $27.6 billion increasing to a projected budget deficit of $42.1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year and continued budget deficits for the following 10-year period.
It is worth noting that in the 2025/26 Federal Budget and consistent with recent budgets handed down, the Government is committing substantial amounts of funding to the ATO to increase its resources. Going forward, the ATO will be using these funds to improve data matching programs and to conduct more reviews and audits of taxpayers. Specific programs announced in the Federal Budget include the Tax Avoidance Taskforce, the Shadow Economy Compliance Program, and the Personal Income Tax Compliance Program.
Some of the key measures announced in the Federal Budget that may be relevant to you include:
Personal measures
- The Government announced that if it is re-elected into Government, it will reduce the 16% marginal tax rate to 15% from 1 July 2026 and from 15% to 14% from 1 July 2027.
- As compared to the 2026 financial year, a worker on the average wage or above will obtain a tax saving of $267.99 in the 2027 financial year and a further tax saving of $267.99 in the 2028 financial year (resulting in a total tax saving of $535.98 in 2028).
- For the 2024/25 financial year, the Government has announced that the low-income Medicare threshold will increase from $26,000 to $27,222 for singles and from $43,846 to $45,907 for couples with no children.
- The Government has committed to providing substantial funding to expand Medicare, providing greater access to bulk-billed GP services and reducing out of pocket expenses for most individuals.
- The energy bill rebate which was introduced in the 2024/25 Federal budget will be extended for another year. While the energy bill rebate was $300 in the 2024/25 year, the energy bill rebate will now be $150 for the 2025/26 financial year.
Business measures
- It would appear that the Small Business $20,000 instant asset write-off concession will not be extended to the 2026 financial year meaning that small businesses will be required to capitalise all business asset purchases of greater than $1,000.
- While not a tax measure, it is interesting to note that the Government announced that non-compete clauses contained in employment contracts for those employees earning less than $175,000 will be banned from 2027.
- Like individuals, businesses will benefit from a $150 energy bill rebate for the 2026/26 year.
Superannuation measures
No new superannuation reform measures were announced in the Federal Budget.
International measures
- In the 2024/25 Federal Budget, the Government made an announcement relating to extending the application of Capital Gains Tax to foreign resident taxpayers and in particular, the type of investments that non-residents would pay Capital Gains Tax on. In the 2025/26 Federal Budget, the start date of these measures has been deferred until the actual legislation is enacted.
- Starting from 1 April 2025, the Government has announced a 2-year ban on foreign persons (including temporary residents and foreign owned entities) purchasing established residential dwellings from 1 April 2025.
Contact us
If you have any further questions relating to how the 2025 Federal Budget might affect you, contact your usual BG Private advisor, or contact our Tax Advisory Partner Tim Olynyk on +61 3 9810 0700 or
