How The New Budget Affects Businesses: Commbank

Less than 24 hours after Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan release 2012’s budget, the Commonwealth Bank has introduced a micro-site that educates businesses on how the changes affect them.

The site houses reports and videos characterised by “in-depth coverage and valuable insights,” acting as a forum populated by Commonwealth Bank’s analysts.

Treasurer Wayne Swan released 2012’s budget yesterday. If adhered to, there will be a $1.5 billion surplus (0.1% of Australia’s GDP) for the 2012/2013 financial year, with further budgetary surpluses expected for the following four years.

If achieved, it will be the largest single-year recovery to the budget’s bottom line since 1952/1953.

“This is a clever budget, but it is by no means a horror budget,” said Savanth Sebastian, Economist at CommSec.

“The government has been able to achieve a surplus through policy decisions, which will see an increase to the budget bottom line of $5.8 billion in 2012/13.”

The budget details a few changes to superannuation concessions, with high income earners no longer receiving tax breaks and individuals over 50 with super balances below $500,000 benefitting from higher concessional contributions.

Savings are being skimmed from changes to living away from home allowances eligible to some workers, an $8 increase in departure tax when travelling overseas and a drop in the number of duty free cigarettes travellers are allowed to bring into the country – from 250 to 50 – ultimately lifting government revenue.

“Mr Swan has delivered on his promise to restore the budget to surplus, which will help to reduce the pressure of the mining boom and provide protection to the Australian economy if there are further shocks in the global economy,” concluded Sebastian.