The Albanese Government has shown itself to be a master juggler – balancing tax and spending to keep the Australian economy from taking a hard fall, at least in the short term – according to industry and tax experts at leading professional services firm RSM Australia.

Outside the promised multi-billion-dollar cost-of-living relief measures – which included a new announcement to triple the Medicare bulk billing incentive – there were only a few new modest spending measures that had not been announced and no major heart-stopping corporate tax surprises, RSM Australia International Tax and Transfer Pricing Lead Partner Liam Delahunty said.

Mr Delahunty said the Budget featured the next phase of multinational tax reform, which included Australia’s adoption of a global minimum tax rate of 15 per cent.

"Australia is one of 135 countries and jurisdictions collaborating on global measures to tackle tax avoidance through the OECD’s BEPS two-pillar reform plan – so the global minimum tax reforms are neither new nor unexpected,’’ he said.

"Steady as she goes", from "no drama" Chalmers.

"What is new are the firm start dates which don’t allow for any significant transition time and also come on the back of changes to thin capitalisation rules and intangible assets – both of which are due to commence from income years commencing on or after 1 July 2023, but are yet to be legislated.  

The 15 per cent global minimum tax for large multinational enterprises with the Income Inclusion Rule will apply to income years starting on or after 1 January 2024.

"A 15 per cent domestic minimum tax will also apply from that date. As always, the devil will be in the detail in terms of the draft legislation that we would expect to be released in the coming months. However, even the Government predicts very modest revenue projections from these measures.’’

RSM Australia National Tax Technical Director Liam Telford said the majority of revenue-raising taxation changes outlined in the Budget papers had already been announced or were expected, including reforms to the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax, tobacco tax excise, super cap tax concessions, and built-to-rent tax incentives.

"A ‘no surprises’ tax Budget that also kept to Labor’s script of responsible, targeted and balanced spending, might have left some parts of the community yawning and others breathing a sigh of relief,’’ Mr Telford said.

"From a corporate perspective, no unexpected new taxes give businesses greater certainty about the path ahead and confidence that the ground will not shift dramatically under them – at least as a result of Government decisions,’’ he said.

Mr Telford said the Government’s eleventh-hour pre-Budget announcement that it had achieved a $4 billion surplus in 2022-23 appeared to be a strategic move to ensure this once-in-a-15-year outcome was not overshadowed on the night by Budget papers revealing $114 billion worth of deficits over the next four years from 2023-24.  

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