<?xml version="1.0" encoding="ISO-8859-1"?> <docID>341086</docID> <postdate>2025-03-25 19:40:40</postdate> <headline>Taxpayers promised extra relief in pre-election budget</headline> <body><p><img class="size-full wp-image-341087" src="https://citynews.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/20240404001926938830-original-resized.jpg" alt="" width="900" height="600" /></p> <caption>Treasurer Jim Chalmers is promising taxpayers extra relief worth hundreds of dollars each year. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)</caption> <p><span class="kicker-line">By <strong>Andrew Brown</strong> in Canberra</span></p> <p><strong>Taxpayers will get two extra rounds of relief in a pre-election sweetener, as Jim Chalmers lays out the economic case for a second term of a Labor government.</strong></p> <p>In his fourth federal budget handed down on Tuesday night, weeks before Australians go to the polls, the treasurer revealed the average earner would be $536 a year better off once the tax cuts are fully implemented.</p> <p>However, workers will have to wait more than a year before they get the first hit of additional hip-pocket relief.</p> <p>The first round will be from July 2026, with those on an average income (around $80,000) getting a $268 boost, with the second round coming in from July 2027.</p> <p>After the government's 2024/25 tax cuts are included, it's estimated taxpayers will be more than $2500 a year – or about $50 a week – better off overall in 2027/28.</p> <p>The cuts will cost $17 billion over the next four years, but Dr Chalmers said the first tax rate would be at its lowest level in more than 50 years.</p> <p>"These additional tax cuts are modest but will make a difference," the treasurer said.</p> <p>The tax measures are among multiple cost-of-living measures that have been locked in by the government in a pitch to voters ahead of the federal election, due to be held in May.</p> <p>Dr Chalmers said the economy was "turning a corner" after previous years of high inflation, insisting better days were still to come despite global uncertainty.</p> <p>"The plan at the core of this budget is about more than putting the worst behind us. It's about seizing the best of what's ahead of us," he said.</p> <p>"We've come a long way, but there's more work to do. This budget is our plan for a new generation of prosperity in a new world of uncertainty. It's a plan to help finish the fight against inflation."</p> <p>The budget comes as Australia and other countries brace for further tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump, after he already targeted steel and aluminium exports.</p> <p>A $20 million Buy Australia campaign will be set up in response to the tariff threat, which will encourage shoppers to buy local products.</p> <p>The treasurer said the budget was a "platform for prosperity in a world of uncertainty".</p> <p>Among the cost-of-living measures already announced were a further $150 in power bill relief for households and one million small businesses, to be handed out in two lots of $75 rebates through to December, under an $1.8 billion package.</p> <p>Health measures have been reiterated through $7.9 billion to expand bulk billing to 90 per cent of GP appointments by 2030, and an extra $644 million to build more urgent care medical clinics.</p> <p>Scripts for medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme will also be capped at $25 for non-concession card holders.</p> <p>The low-income threshold for the Medicare levy has also been lifted by more than $1200 for singles and about $2700 for families.</p> <p>Student loans would also be cut by 20 per cent for all three million people with a HECS debt, which would wipe $16 billion from all balances.</p> <p>From July, students can also earn more before they would have to repay their remaining debt, with the threshold rising from just over $54,000 to $67,000.</p> <p>The budget also included funding for the consumer watchdog to crack down on misleading conduct by major supermarkets, with more than $38 million set aside.</p> <p>An extra $240 million will also be spent for states and territories to relax planning laws to allow more supermarkets to open and increase competition in the sector.</p> <p>First home-buyers will also be helped through an $800 million expansion of the Help to Buy scheme, which allows people to purchase a property with a lower deposit.</p> <p>The government will set aside almost $6 million to enforce a ban of foreign buyers purchasing a home in Australia for two years, which starts in April.</p> </body>