Win a holiday for four to Australia

We’re partnering with Tourism Western Australia to give someone the prize of a lifetime.

Come to the Down Under Live! show at the National Motorcycle Museum in Birmingham on the 19th and 20th September and you and 3 friends could be jetting off to Australia! Visit relatives, see the sights, or simply relax and enjoy the sunshine – the choice will be yours.

The fabulous prize includes flights, accommodation a range of tours, some spending money and tasty treats too. All up, it’s worth around A$24,000!

For more details on the prize and the show, visit the website – www.downunderlive.co.uk

Source  :  www.australiamagazine.co.uk

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Jobs for Backpackers Website

Starting from a part time operation and growing to what we are today, we have an excellent reputation and are known widely for our service and quality.

From all kinds of seasonal farm and station work to country pub and resort work, we have a vast range of great jobs to choose from both in the Perth metropolitan area and regional Western Australia. 

We aim to provide a quality experience for travellers. We ensure that our employers are bona fide, pay good rates, provide satisfactory accommodation and stand by their word in terms of their job offerings.

We also encourage our travellers to try something new and different so that they really get to know and understand the true blue Aussie way of life. Its also great to take home new experiences and skills that you would never have thought of having back home.

Our service for employers starts by finding you the best person available for the job.  We do comprehensive visa checks with Australian Immigration and provide the employee with all the information they need to know, not just about your business and the job, but your location too. This is so when we send people to you they have a good understanding of what’s involved in the position and where they will be working.

Source  :  http://www.backpackerjobswa.com.au/

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Stamp duty on home loans under review

STAMP duty on housing loans could be abolished after the Henry tax review, which is likely to recommend states be given a share of income tax to make up the difference.

The most likely path to do this would be for the Commonwealth to give the states the ability to impose their own surcharge on income tax, which would be collected for them by the Australian Tax Office.

 The Henry review has been inundated with submissions calling for the end of stamp duty.

Tax economists argue that the tax on moving house, although easy to collect, leads to poor use of the housing stock and poor labour mobility, The Australian reports.Having to pay stamp duty not only discourages elderly people from moving to more appropriate accommodation, it also deters people from moving house to a better jobs market. 

At a conference conducted by the Henry tax review at the Melbourne Institute last week, both international and Australian tax economists said stamp duty should go, with Melbourne University professor John Freebairn describing the tax as “a piece of garbage”.

The review panel is being influenced by state submissions arguing that replacing stamp duty by extending other state taxes, such as payroll tax or land tax, would be too difficult to implement nationally.

Tasmanian Treasury secretary Don Challen, who is close to the inquiry’s head, federal Treasury secretary Ken Henry, told last week’s conference that reform of state taxes would succeed only with leadership from the national government.                                                                                                                                                     

“If you want to achieve a difficult reform, you’ve got to make it a national one,” Mr Challen said.

He said it would be too hard to win political consensus to extend land or payroll taxes.

“It requires eight lots of political commitment and eight lots of legislation and that path is doomed to failure,” he said.

However, he said he believed states would be willing to act on stamp duty if the commonwealth provided an avenue for alternative revenue.

The idea of giving states a cut of income tax was pressed two years ago by the OECD, which suggested the states “piggy-back” on income tax. The OECD also urged states to drop stamp duty.

One of the world’s leading experts on federal taxes, Canada’s Richard Bird, said the states were heading for a financial crisis because they did not have a sufficient tax base to support their burgeoning health and education costs, which were all rising much faster than the consumer price index.

One of the problems with stamp duty for the states is that it is vulnerable to the state of property markets.

Stamp duty usually raises about $14 billion a year for the states, but the recent state budgets showed big falls of more than $1bn each in NSW and Queensland, in 2008-09, for example.

“In Australia, it should certainly be feasible to permit states to impose a surcharge on the federal personal income tax base,” Professor Bird said.

He said that, ideally, Australia would follow the Scandinavian practice of allowing states to have a flat tax surcharge on income, rather than mirroring the commonwealth’s progressive taxation.

The states would be allowed to set their own level, making states more responsible for their own finances.

Source  :  www.news.com.au

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The Vines Golf Course

The Vines Resort & Country Club is hidden amongst a colourful blend of history, people, art and world class wine in the historic Swan Valley.

The Resort has been designed to blend a relaxed country club atmosphere with the level of excellence expected of a Novotel Resort.
Enjoy our Resort’s accommodation, sensational restaurant and dining venues, 36-hole championship golf course and an abundance of Resort facilities.

Pleasure knows no bounds: taste award winning wines, visit the local galleries and studios, relax by the pool or cruise through 18 holes, the choice is yours!

http://www.thevines.com.au

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Sales Tax & Refunds

Sales Tax & Refunds Australia has a Sales Tax & Refunds. Prices in Australia are shown as Sales Tax & Refunds International and domestic flights purchased overseas, by non-residents, are GST free. Continuous domestic legs of international journeys are also Sales Tax & Refunds. GST is payable on tourism services such as accommodation, day tours, guides, ground transport (including coach, rail and cruise), translators and meals. The tax applies to pre-booked and pre-paid goods and services in Australia, which are purchased before arrival in Australia, for example tours or accommodation. The prices quoted for your Australian holiday, by your travel agent, will already include the Goods and Services Tax (GST). The total amount is payable at the time of ticketing your holiday. Tourist Refund Scheme Departing travellers may be able to claim GST inclulaim a refund for GST and WET (Wine Equalisation Tax) paid on goods purchased in Australia. The refund is applicable to goods, totalling $A300 (sive) or more that are being taken out of Australia. The goods must have been purchased no earlier than 30 days before leaving Australia. You can purchase several lower-priced items from one store, either at the same time or on several occasions within the 30 day period. These goods will be covered by the one tax invoice. Or you can buy goods from several stores, provided that each store’s tax invoice totals at least $A300 (GST inclusive). Tourist Refund Scheme (TRS) facilities are located at international airports and cruise-liner terminals. To claim, out of Australia travellers must show their passport, international boarding pass, retailer’s tax invoice and the goods. Other conditions may apply. There is a range of government, airport, sea and local taxes applicable on air and sea travel. These will usually be included in your ticket.

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