Annual Report 2008–09 – Economic migration

This output:

• strengthens the economic and budgetary benefits from granting permanent residence visas to skilled and business migrants
• addresses key and emerging skill shortages, particularly in regional Australia
• expands business establishment and investment.

Performance

In 2008–09, the department issued 114 777 Skill Stream visas, compared to 108 542 in 2007–08.

Regional migration and state-specific initiatives now account for 29.2 per cent of the Skill Stream of the Migration Program. The Australian Government works with state and territory governments to encourage Australian employers and potential overseas applicants to use these programs.

During 2008–09, the department issued 33 474 state specific and regional migration visas, an increase of 27.9 per cent over the previous year. Since the introduction of these programs in 1996, a total of 169 328 visas have been issued.

Regional migration continues to be a priority under the Skill Stream. Through their sponsorship of skilled migrants, state and territory governments have a direct influence on the number and skill sets of migrants who settle in their jurisdictions. The number of visas granted to people sponsored by states and territories was 14 055 in 2008–09. 

Read more go to  :  http://www.immi.gov.au/about/reports/annual/2008-09/html/outcome1/output1-1-1.htm

 

 

Description

Under this output, the department manages the entry of skilled and business migrants. State-specific and regional migration programs help employers and state and territory governments fill skill shortages that cannot be filled locally. These programs are targeted to address existing and projected skill shortages and help in the development of local communities.

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Closure of the Capital Investment Scheme on 31 October 2009

From 31 October 2009, the South Australian Government Financing Authority (SAFA) has announced it will not accept any further applications from General Skilled Migration (GSM) applicants who wish to lodge a capital investment, as it will close the scheme.

Since the announcement of the reopening of the capital investment scheme by SAFA on 29 January 2009, the department has contacted all applicants whose cases had been assessed and who indicated they intended to lodge a capital investment.

Any applicants who have indicated on their application form that they intend to lodge a capital investment, but have not yet done so, are advised to finalise their capital investment before the scheme is closed.

Applicants who did not indicate on their application form that they intended to lodge a capital investment, but now wish to do so because they will be relying on the five bonus points to meet the Point Test, should also contact the department and finalise their capital investment before the scheme is closed.

This is the final opportunity for all pre 1 September 2007 GSM applicants to lodge a capital investment. As there will be no further capacity for applicants to make a capital investment to gain the bonus five (5) points, the department will not provide applicants any additional time to make a capital investment once the scheme offered by SAFA closes. Please note that this also applies to those applicants who have appealed to the Migration Review Tribunal (MRT) and those applicants seeking judicial review.

Applicants who still intend to make a capital investment are strongly urged to do so before 31 October 2009.

Please note that only SAFA provides an approved designated security that enables an applicant for a pre-1 September 2007 GSM visa to be awarded bonus points for making a capital investment.

For more information  :  http://www.immi.gov.au/skilled/general-skilled-migration/capital-investment-scheme-faqs.htm

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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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Australia is still open for business

Despite the current financial troubles plaguing the world, the Australian government continues to welcome business migrants who want to move to Australia to establish and operate a new business or purchase and operate an existing business.Migration opportunities also exist for people who wish to invest in Government bonds. Australia’s states and territories are competing in a bid to sponsor business people from around the world in an effort to attract investment and suitable migrants to their cities and towns. At the same time the Australian government has been at pains to stress the importance it places on small business in Australia and has rewarded the sector with significant tax relief. On March 28 2009, the Australian government announced more than AUD720 million (SLR 23 billion) of cash-flow relief and further initiatives to support small business are expected in the May budget. Although the business world has been pessimistic about the impact of the global financial crisis, Australia has been better positioned than most countries to weather the storm. A survey conducted by the Small Business Development Corporation of small business sentiment in Western Australia has found that “there is more optimism within the small business sector than media reports would have us believe”, SBDC Managing Director Mr Stephen Moir said when the survey was released. This may make it a good time for potential business migrants to consider a move to Australia. Many business people from around the world have already taken advantage of the opportunities offered under Australia’s business migration programme. A total of 6565 business visas were granted in 2008, a 12.5% increase on the 2007 figure. This is about equal to the number of business visas that can be granted before July 2009 under the recently announced cap. New business visa applications are still being accepted and processed as normal and no limits have been announced for 2010. It is not clear what effect the global downturn will have on demand for these visas and whether the caps for 2009 will have an effect on processing times in the future. There would appear to be little reason for the Australian Government to place significant limits on the number of business visas in the future – business migrants create job opportunities in Australia rather than reduce them. Historically the Australian business visa programme has attracted mostly small to medium business people who are seeking better opportunities for themselves and their families in Australia. In recent years the program has attracted many applicants from countries such as the PRC, Indonesia and South Africa where there has been some political or economic instability and concern for the future. Australia’s business visa program is targeted at small business owners and senior managers who have a proven track-record of successful business in their country and who have accumulated wealth through their entrepreneurship, which can be invested in Australia. Successful business applicants need to show that their business has recorded sales of more than AUD$300,000 (LSR 27,000,000) in at least two of the past four fiscal years or that they are a senior manager in a significant business, and that they have at least AUD$250,000 (LSR 22,000,000) in personal and business assets which they are willing and able to transfer to Australia. Business migrants who are over 45 or who do not have a good command of English must be sponsored by a state or territory of Australia. Despite the global downturn, there are good business opportunities in Australia in many sectors and Australia remains very much open for business. In order to encourage business migrants to establish themselves in their area, some Australian states and territories, including Western Australia, offer incentives and assistance packages to qualifying new migrants and small business owners. Many states and territories offer discounted education for children of business migrants. A successful business visa applicant will first be granted a temporary visa for four years within which time they must relocate themselves and their families to Australia and establish their business in the sponsoring state. Provided the relevant requirements are satisfied during this time, the person can apply for a permanent visa allowing them and their family to remain in Australia indefinitely. After a time, business visa holder can apply for Australian Citizenship should they want Australian nationality. If you are thinking about migrating to Australia, the time might be now! Source  :  www.sundaytimes.lk

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ATO warns SMSFs to keep deals at arm’s length

The Australian Tax Office has issued a warning to self-managed super funds (SMSFs) about people offering to set up agreements between funds and related parties to purchase assets, particularly properties.

Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo says he’s concerned some of the arrangements on offer breach the in-house asset rules.

“These arrangements use a paid third party to set up an agreement, sometimes referred to as ‘a joint venture agreement’, between the fund and a related trust to purchase an asset that provides income for the trust and the fund,” D’Ascenzo says.

“This is clearly an attempt to circumvent the in-house asset rules as the transaction is really an investment by the SMSF in the related trust.”

“This alert serves as a timely reminder to trustees that we’re looking closely at SMSFs to ensure they’re meeting their obligations in relation to loans, in-house assets, borrowings and non-arm’s length transactions.”

The Taxpayer Alert (2009/16) on this issue is available from the Tax Office website at www.ato.gov.au/atp.

Source  :  www.apimagazine.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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