Grocery Choice website scrapped

THE Rudd Government has dumped one of its key election promises, the Grocery Choice price monitoring website, after supermarkets failed to provide enough information to make the site reliable.

After a meeting today with major supermarkets, Competition Minister Craig Emerson announced that the measure – an election promise that was aimed at keeping grocery prices low – would not proceed, The Australian reported.

“Upon close examination of the data requirements for reliable price information, I have formed the view that it is not feasible to generate that information in a timely manner, “ Dr Emerson said.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                   

The scheme had been due to be up and running next week.

The dumping of Grocery Choice comes after the Government last year abandoned FuelWatch after it was defeated in the Senate.

Mr Rudd campaigned heavily prior to the election on easing the cost-of-living pressures on working families and increasing competition in the petrol and grocery sectors.

Both FuelWatch and Grocery Choice were criticised for not putting downward pressure on prices.

Earlier this month it emerged that the consumer advocate Choice would be forced to go it alone on the website as the major supermarket chains continued to drag their feet over supplying price data.

Choice took over the running of the website from the Rudd Government, which launched it after campaigning on easing cost-of-living pressures before the election.

The $13 million site, which originally launched last August, was heavily criticised for displaying information that was too general and outdated to be useful.

Source  :  www.news.com.au

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Changes to the adjusted taxable income test for Commonwealth Seniors Health Card

From 1 July 2009, there will be changes to how certain types of income affect eligibility for the CSHC. Depending on your circumstances, these changes may impact on your eligibility for a CSHC and you may be required to provide additional information about your income to Centrelink.

The adjusted taxable income test for CSHC will include:

• assessment of total net investment losses. Total net investment losses are the sum of net losses from rental property income and net losses from financial investment income, and
• subject to the passage of legislation, reportable superannuation contributions may be included in the adjusted taxable income test for CSHC. Reportable superannuation contributions are discretionary or voluntary contributions, for example salary sacrifice contribution and personal deductible contributions. 

Note: losses from rental properties are already included in assessable income for CSHC. From 1 July 2009, the adjustable taxable income test will also include losses from.

Source  :  http://www.centrelink.com.au/internet/internet.nsf/payments/conc_cards_cshc.htm

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Minimum wage increases $12.30 a week

The State’s lowest-paid workers will get a $12.30 a week pay rise, in a move social advocates say will have them relying on community services more than ever.

The WA Industrial Relations Commission today handed down the 2.2 per cent increase, effective from October, saying the rise was in line with the Perth CPI.

It will take the minimum wage, which covers about 2.2 per cent of the state’s workers, to $569.70.                                         

Unions had argued for a $31 a week increase, while the Chamber of Commerce and Industry pleaded for none.

The State Government had submitted $19 a week as appropriate.

WA Council of Social Services chief executive Sue Ash said the commission was “out of touch” with community expectations.

“This decision means (low-paid workers) will bear the brunt of the economic downturn,” she said.

“The CPI is a wholly inadequate measure of the real living cost pressures and income value of minimum wage workers as it does not reflect the basket of goods that (they) have to spend their money on.”

Food prices had risen 8.6 per cent in the year to March, while housing (8.1 per cent), health services (11.9 per cent) and education (15 per cent) had far exceeded the CPI figure.

“These stark increases… mean that low income earners will be relying on community services more than ever,” she said.

Source  :   www.watoday.com.au

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What is superannuation?

Superannuation is a way of saving for your retirement. Both you and your employer can make contributions that accumulate over time and this money is then invested in shares, government bonds, property, or other appropriate investments.                                 

On retirement, or after disability or death you then receive the money (less charges and taxes) as regular periodic payments (ie, a pension), a lump sum payment, or a combination of both.

Employers must contribute to an employee’s superannuation fund. This is called the Superannuation Guarantee, which came into operation on July 1, 1992.

The amount of the contribution is 9 per cent of an employee’s wages (excluding overtime, leave loading and fringe benefits).

Some employees are left out. The Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act says that employers do not have to pay the Superannuation Guarantee in certain circumstances.

Some of the exceptions are:
• employees earning less than $450 per month;
• employees under the age of 18 who work 30 hours per week or less;
• employees over 70 years of age;
• anyone paid to do domestic or private work for 30 hours per week or less.

Can the employer pay more?

An employer can make payments above the compulsory superannuation guarantee as:
• a reward for a worker’s performance;
• a type of co-payment, where the employer’s contribution increases in line with the employees voluntary contribution; or
• a ‘salary-sacrifice’ – this is where the employer makes a contribution that would otherwise be paid as salary.

Note, there are limits to the amount of salary sacrifice that can be made in a financial year.

If you want your employer to pay more, you should get advice from a financial advisor, but keep in mind that employers are limited in the amount that can be claimed as a deduction for superannuation contributions made for a particular employee.

Check with your superannuation fund or the Australian Tax Office to find out what these limits are – they change each year.  www.ato.gov.au

Should I contribute too?

If you have money left over after your weekly expenses, and you want to save for the future, you may want to consider making superannuation contributions as compared to other forms of investment.

Note, there are aged base limits that affect whether or not you can contribute to superannuation – for details, see the Australian Taxation Office web site.

Some of the advantages are:
• generally, you pay less tax on interest from superannuation savings than bank interest;
• with a ‘salary sacrifice’ the superannuation contribution is taken straight out of your wages, so you are not tempted to use it for purposes other than savings.

There are limits to the amount that you can “salary sacrifice”;
• the interest on superannuation savings is ‘compounded’, that is, interest earned by the superannuation fund is added to the total investment, so the interest earns more interest.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority estimates that a sum of money ‘compounded’ at 7 per cent a year will double in value in ten years; and
• you may be able to access the benefits of the low income super rebate and low income spouse rebate.
• you may be able to access financial incentives offered by the Government such as the co-contribution scheme. Under this scheme Government will contribute up to $1500 (depending on your income) when you contribute to your fund.

Check the Australian Taxation Office web site for details.

Ultimately, the pros and cons of contributing to superannuation is something you should get advice about.

What are the tax advantages?

The maximum tax rate for your employer’s contribution is 15 per cent.

The income you earn through the fund’s investments is also taxed at a maximum 15 per cent rate.

Salary sacrifice contributions will be taxed at 15 per cent.

Once you reach 60 you can withdraw your superannuation as a lump sum or income stream tax free.

There are also tax advantages if you contribute to your spouse/de facto’s super fund. The set off depends on their income. Check the Tax Office for details.

What laws apply?

The main laws that apply to superannuation are the:
• Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act and Regulations (regulates most private superannuation funds);
• Superannuation Guarantee (Administration) Act and Regulations (tells employers the minimum contribution they must pay);
• Income Tax Assessment Act,.

The jargon

Accumulation funds – money is invested and the final benefit depends on the total contributions, plus earnings of the fund.

Annuity – like a pension. You receive regular periodic payments for either fixed amount of time or until you die.

Benefit – the money paid to you out of the superannuation fund or held on your behalf within the fund.

Contribution – the money paid into the superannuation fund by either you or your employer.

Defined benefit funds – the final benefit is paid on the basis of a specific formula, so the employer carries the risk if the growth of the fund does not cover the benefit.

Lump sum – money received in a single payment.

Preserved – money that you cannot withdraw from your fund until retirement or certain other events, eg reaching a certain age and leaving employment either temporarily or permanently. This includes money paid by your employer, interest earned on that money or contributions paid by a self-employed person which have been claimed as a tax deduction and any undeducted contributions you make after 1 July, 1999.

Rollover – transferring money from one fund to another.

Unrestricted or non- preserved amount – money that can be paid to you at any time form your superannuation fund

Rights to information

You are entitled to certain information from your superannuation fund. This includes:
• a member statement which shows the amount of your benefit at the start and end of the relevant period, the amount that is preserved and contact details (generally provided annually);
• a fund report which shows the fund’s financial position (generally provided annually);
• notification of changes that affect you, e.g. a change to the superannuation fund’s rules; and
• a statement that shows your benefit, including death benefits when you leave.

Source  :  www.news.com.au

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See through the rebate debate health insurance

The strategy :  To work out how the changes to the health insurance rebate affect me.

I suppose it means I’ll be paying more for my health insurance. That’s the gist of it though it will depend on whether Opposition leader Malcolm Turnbull delivers on his threat to block the legislation. As you may have picked up from the federal budget, the Government needs to find savings to fund higher pension payments.

One proposed measure is means testing the health insurance rebate, which currently allows you to claim a tax rebate of 30 per cent of the cost of your health insurance if you’re aged under 65, 35per cent if you’re 65 to 69 and 40 per cent if you’re 70 or older.

Most people ask their health fund to reduce their premiums to take account of the rebate rather than paying the full premium and claiming the rebate in their tax return. For someone under 65, a monthly insurance premium of $250 could be reduced to $175. That won’t change if you earn up to $75,000 if you’re single and $150,000 for families. But if your income is higher, your rebate will be reduced or cut out altogether.

How will that work? Let’s look at singles first. If you earn $75,001-$90,000, your rebate will be reduced to 20 per cent. If you earn $90,001-$120,000, the new rebate will be 10 per cent.

Once your income exceeds $120,000 you will be ineligible for the rebate.

For families, the combined income limits are $150,001-$180,000 for the 20per cent rebate, $180,001-$240,000 for the 10 per cent rebate and the rebate will disappear altogether once family income exceeds $240,000.

All income thresholds will be indexed to wages and will be adjusted for families with one child in the same way that thresholds are already adjusted for determining whether you have to pay the Medicare levy surcharge if you don’t have private health cover. The threshold is currently lifted by $1500 for each dependent child.

The Government says the definition of your income for the rebate will be the same as for the Medicare levy surcharge. Challenger’s head of technical services, Alex Denham, says this definition is changing from July 1 to include your taxable income, reportable fringe benefits, salary sacrificed to super or any personal deductible super contributions made and net investment losses. So higher-income earners won’t be able to use strategies such as salary sacrifice to get or increase their rebate.

Would I be better off dropping my health insurance and paying the Medicare levy surcharge? The proposed measures also include a rise in this surcharge precisely to stop this sort of behaviour.

The 1 per cent surcharge will rise to 1.25per cent once income exceeds $90,000 for singles or $180,000 for couples and to 1.5 per cent for incomes exceeding $120,000 or $240,000. That extra tax may cancel out any savings from dropping your health cover.

MLC’s head of technical services, Andrew Lawless, says a better option may be to make changes to your policy, such as increasing the excess you pay before claiming on the cover or reducing cover on ancillary benefits. However, to avoid the surcharge you must have hospital cover with an excess of $500 or less for singles or $1000 or less for families or couples per calendar year.

When will the changes come in? Not until July 1 next year, so you have time to check the final details if the measures are passed and weigh up your options.

It’s worth noting that the Medicare levy surcharge income limits will be indexed from their current levels of $70,000 for singles and $140,000 for couples to the new $75,000 and $150,000 levels at this time.

Source : www.watoday.com.au

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Register for a seminar with www.immagine-immigration.com

If interested in attending these seminars please Email : info@immagine-immigration.com  

IMMagine Australia is an Australian based Immigration Consultancy that specialise in immigration to Australia. We will be holding a number of Australia Immigration Seminars and consultations in South Africa and Singapore for those people interested in Australia immigration / emigrating to Australia.

The Australian Immigration Seminars include information about:                                                                                        
Australia’s immigration policy and any recent changes;
the Australia immigration process;
the impact of moving to Australia;
finding a job in Australia;
Australia’s cost of living, taxation, salaries, the education system and;
what Australia has to offer those interested in emigration.
We will also discuss the global economic environment and how it might impact on your immigration plans.

We are specifically interested in those people with Degrees, Trade Qualifications, National Diplomas, business people, the self employed and those with family in Australia.

We are specifically interested in those people with Degrees, Trade Qualifications, National Diplomas, business people, the self employed and those with family in Australia.

Please select a country below to view full seminar details and reserve a place:

South African Immigration Seminars
Register for a seminar today!

Cape Town – Wednesday 13 May 09 at 7.00 p.m.
Durban – Monday 18 May 09 at 7.00 p.m.
Johannesburg – Thursday 4 June 09 at 7.00 p.m

Singapore – Saturday 6 June 09 at 12.30 p.m

Singapore Immigration Seminars
Email : info@immagine-immigration.com

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WA sale of new homes on the rise

SALES of new homes rose for a third straight month in March – with a 7.3 per cent jump in WA – as government grants and low interest rates enticed buyers into the housing market, a survey shows.

The Housing Industry Association survey found new homes sales increased by 4.2 per cent to 8210 homes following a 7.8 per cent rise in February.

Purchases of detached homes rose by 4.1 per cent to 7474 houses in March, with a quarterly rise of 17 per cent, HIA reported.

HIA chief economist Harley Dale said the project home building market gained a lift from the first-homeowners’ grant (FHOG) and low interest rates during the first quarter of 2009.
The first-home owners’ boost for new dwellings is clearly lifting residential building activity and securing jobs within the Australian economy,” Dr Dale said.

In mid-October, the Federal Governmentdoubled the FHOG to $14,000 for established dwellings and tripled it to $21,000 for newly- built homes.

The Reserve Bank of Australia lowered the cash rate by four percentage points to 3.25 per cent between September and February. Subsequently, on April 7 the RBA cut official interest rates by 25 basis points to three per cent – a 49-year low.

Dr Dale said the Federal Government should consider whether to stop the boost to the FHOG, as originally planned for June 30.

Loans to first-home buyers posted a record 26.9 per cent of housing approvals in February, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Sales of units rose by 4.7 per cent to 736 in March, yet sales in the sector were down by 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.
The first-home owners’ boost for new dwellings is clearly lifting residential building activity and securing jobs within the Australian economy,” Dr Dale said.

In mid-October, the Federal Governmentdoubled the FHOG to $14,000 for established dwellings and tripled it to $21,000 for newly- built homes.

The Reserve Bank of Australia lowered the cash rate by four percentage points to 3.25 per cent between September and February. Subsequently, on April 7 the RBA cut official interest rates by 25 basis points to three per cent – a 49-year low.

Dr Dale said the Federal Government should consider whether to stop the boost to the FHOG, as originally planned for June 30.

Loans to first-home buyers posted a record 26.9 per cent of housing approvals in February, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Sales of units rose by 4.7 per cent to 736 in March, yet sales in the sector were down by 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.
The first-home owners’ boost for new dwellings is clearly lifting residential building activity and securing jobs within the Australian economy,” Dr Dale said.

In mid-October, the Federal Governmentdoubled the FHOG to $14,000 for established dwellings and tripled it to $21,000 for newly- built homes.

The Reserve Bank of Australia lowered the cash rate by four percentage points to 3.25 per cent between September and February. Subsequently, on April 7 the RBA cut official interest rates by 25 basis points to three per cent – a 49-year low.

Dr Dale said the Federal Government should consider whether to stop the boost to the FHOG, as originally planned for June 30.

Loans to first-home buyers posted a record 26.9 per cent of housing approvals in February, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Sales of units rose by 4.7 per cent to 736 in March, yet sales in the sector were down by 14 per cent in the first quarter of 2009.
New home sales rose by 15.2 per cent in New South Wales in March, with Victoria up 14.6 per cent and WA 7.3 per cent higher.

South Australia had a 4.6 per cent fall in new homes sales during March, with Queensland down 16.9 per cent following a 26.2 per cent rise in February.

CommSec economist Savanth Sebastian said the lower mortgage rates and the June 30 first home buyers deadline is likely to boost demand for property in coming months, but prices will be held back to a large extent by worries about job prospects.

CommSec is forecasting unemployment to rise to 6.5 per cent over the next year. The national jobless rate is now at 4.9 per cent.

Loans to first homebuyers posted a record 26.9 per cent of housing approvals in February, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data showed.

“While the rate of growth in sales reflects to an extent the low base from which a recovery is emerging.

“There is no doubt that the previously mentioned triple boost from low interest rates, stimulus to first-home buyers, and builder discounts have injected some life into a previously moribund new home building market,” the HIA reported.
http://www.inmycommunity.com.au/property/

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Web Pages for Rentals House Buyers and Valuations

www.realestate.com.au    www.reiwa.com.au   www.domain.com.au

 www.myhousevalue.com.au   www.ozhomevalue.com.au

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Health Cover

Public Health Cover

Medicare is the public health system that is regulated by the Australian Government and is available to most Australians. The public health system is designed to ensure that all Australians have access to medical and hospital care. It provides assistance with most medicines prescribed by doctors through the Pharmaceuticals Benefits Scheme.

Medicare does not generally cover temporary residents in Australia. If you are not certain of your eligibility for coverage, check your visa status (i.e. visa classification under which you entered Australia) and then contact Medicare to confirm eligibility.

Private Health Cover

Many Australians also choose to take out private health insurance as some expenses are not covered and waiting lists for elective surgery in public hospitals can take time. The cost of standard private medical cover is around $2,600 per family per year, with the government offering a 30 percent rebate on the costs of private health insurance.

Compare Private Health Cover www.iselect.com.au

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New website for supermarket bargains

• A grocery comparison website was launched today
• Noosa has the cheapest basket of groceries in the country
• See the government’s grocery comparison site here

KEVIN Rudd’s new website for supermarket bargains has uncovered a suprising winner for the nation’s cheapest shopping trolley: it’s Queensland’s Sunshine coast, including Noosa, the preferred playground for millionaire babyboomers in search of a seachange.

The Prime Minister’s much criticised website to track grocery prices made its debut this morning, revealing something many families living in the regional areas already know – buying groceries in Broome, Darwin, Alice Springs and even Hobart is more expensive than the big cities.

But suprisingly shoppers in Noosa, the holiday playground lampooned by Kath and Kim’s Prue and Trude, enjoys the cheapest shopping basket in the nation, The Australian reports.

Related Links

• Tax: Corporate rates could fall

Supermarket giant Coles has emerged as the cheapest option for a majority of regions in Australia, according to GROCERYchoice, but ALDI is up to $20 cheaper again for an basket of basic staples in the regions it operates.

The cheapest basic basket of staples in Australia is to be found on Queensland’s sunshine coast including Noosa, Maroochydore and Caloundra and Brisbane’s north, including Redcliffe and Northgate.

A combined basket of meat, fruit, dairy, general groceries and other items costs $150.58 on average at Coles in those areas. By comparison, the same combined Coles basket costs $164.76 in Broome. But the same shopping trolley costs up to $193.48 in Alice Springs if you shop independent.

The site – http://www.grocerychoice.gov.au/ – will provide monthly comparisons of a basket of selected groceries from supermarkets in 61 regions across the country.

Read the full report in The Australian 

extract from www.news.com.au

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