Following the Pascometer’s beautiful dissection of the hysteria surrounding the Government’s announced changes to fringe benefits tax (FBT), the Assistant Treasurer, David Bradbury has come out swinging, accusing salary packaging companies of widespread rorting:
He accused some salary packaging companies of spruiking for business by encouraging people to abuse the benefit, which lowers the fringe benefits tax bill regardless of whether or not the car is driven for work purposes.
“Some of them are actually pitching this to clients, that they can get this without driving it for business purposes,” Mr Bradbury said, adding that this was being done blatantly on some companies’ websites…
The change would only affect those who use their car for wholly or mainly private purposes, Mr Bradbury said. The government estimates 320,000 people fall into this category.
“Those who claim a work related [use] will continue to be able to claim,” he said…
“If you happen to not be one of these 320,000 people, you are subsidising this.”
Meanwhile, Communications Minister, Anthony Albanese, has hit-out at contractors building the NBN for using the media to lobby for pay rises. From the AFR:
Mr Albanese said the reports [of blowouts in contractor’s pay] were groundless and that suggestions costs for the project would now pass $60 billion were without merit.
“Today there is a headline that doesn’t actually match what’s in the detail,” Mr Albanese said.
“What we have had with the NBN, as occurs with infrastructure projects, is some disputes between contractors and subcontractors and some people are essentially using the front page of The Australian no doubt, to try to up how much money they get.”
As Houses & Holes noted earlier today, who’d want to be a government in Australia. You get a public caning from the media for running deficits and then when you drive a hard bargain for the tax-payer (such as with the FBT changes) you get more curry from the same media.
