Tax rates for 2013-14

The 2014 financial year starts on 1 July 2013 and ends on 30 June 2014. The tax free thresholds and brackets for 2013-14 are unchanged from the previous tax year.

Personal Tax Rates 2013-14 (resident individuals)
Taxable income	Tax on this income*
0 – $18,200	Nil
$18,201 – $37,000	19c for each $1 over $18,200
$37,001 – $80,000	$3,572 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $37,000
$80,001 – $180,000	$17,547 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000
$180,001 and over	$54,547 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

* The above table does not include Medicare Levy or the effect of any Low Income Tax Offset (“LITO”).

Medicare Levy

In 2013-14 the Medicare Levy is applied on a progressive basis at the additional rate of 1.5%.

If eligible private health insurance cover is not maintained the Medicare Levy Surcharge adds a further levy of up to 1.5% depending on income.

There are low income and other full or partial medicare exemptions available. For more information and calculation details, see Medicare Levy and Medicare Levy Surcharge

Low Income Tax Offset (‘LITO’)

The Low Income Tax Offset full amount in 2013-14 is $445 reducing by 1.5 cents in the dollar for every dollar of income over $37,000, such that it cuts out at income of $66,667.

The effect is that no tax is payable up to an income of $20,542.

For more information and the calculation table see Low Income Tax Offset.

What’s New in 2013-14?

(significant measures – not exhaustive)

The basic tax scale is the same as the previous year, as is the Low Income Tax Offset. Likewise the medicare levy, and medicare levy surcharge rates are unchanged, however the various income tests are inflation-adjusted each financial year.

• Lodge simple tax returns online – from 1 July 2014, in addition to its free e-tax software, the ATO has enabled “myTax” – which is an online and substantially pre-filled tax return lodgement solution for people with simple tax returns. Registration at “myGov” is required to be able to use these services. For more information and links see e-tax and myTax.
• Super guarantee – Occupational superannuation guarantee contributions percentage increased to 9.25% with effect from 1 July 2013 – see Superannuation Guarantee
• Low Income Super – Low Income Superannuation Contribution (“LISC”) is proposed to be abolished from 1 July 2013 as part of the Mining Tax repeal package of measures. It’s not law yet (at the time of writing) – for more info and progress of the bills – see LISC
• Super guarantee for older employees – removal of the upper age limit (employees aged 70 and over) on employer superannuation guarantee contributions from 1 July 2013 – see Super Guarantee age limits
• Superannuation Contributions Cap is $35,000 for older Australians
  • $35,000 unindexed for people aged 59 or more on 30 June 2013 (up from $25,000) with effect from 1 July 2013, and
  • $35,000 unindexed for those aged 49 or more on 30 June 2014 from 1 July 2014
  • To take advantage, make sure the super fund receives the money before 30 June 2014. For more on this and the caps generally see Contributions Caps
• The superannuation excess contributions rules are softened with effect from 1 July 2013 by allowing excess concessional contributions to be withdrawn and taxed at the individual’s marginal tax rate plus interest. A similar proposal for the treatment of excess non-concessional contributions has been proposed in the May 2014 Budget, but as yet has not been enacted. There’s more information here.
• Private Health Insurance Rebate – with effect from 1 April 2014 and annually thereafter the private health insurance rebate percentage will adjusted by an inflation factor based on the health insurance policy premium amount. This greatly complicates the rebate calculation for 2013-14, and the Tax Office recommends that you wait for your health fund annual statement before making out a claim. There’s more information about this here.
• Medical expenses rebate – the wind-down of medical expense claims commences from 1 July 2013, and claim thresholds for 2013-14 are indexed – see Net Medical Expenses Offset.
• Cents per km car expense claim rates have been adjusted for 2013-14 – see Cents per km.
• Reasonable travel and overtime meal allowances – expense amounts for 2013-14 have been updated in the Commissioner’s determination TD 2013/16 – see Reasonable travel allowances.
• Depreciation – Commissioner’s Effective Life – depreciation schedules applicable to the 2013-14 year are linked here and the Guide To Depreciating Assets has been updated for 2013-14.
• Depreciation – removal of accelerated deductions – during the 2013-14 year the mining tax repeal bill was introduced to parliament which (amongst other measures) removes the accelerated ($6,500) small business depreciation concessions with effect from 1 January 2014. See ATO depreciation rates.
• For Tax Agents – New Lodgment Program Framework commences with effect from 1 July 2013.
• See also – Federal Budget 2013-14 (from the outgoing Labor Government)
• See also – Mid Year Economic & Fiscal Outlook 2013-14 (from the new Coalition Government elected September 2013)

Super Contributions Limits for 2013-14
The concessional (tax deductible) superannuation contributions caps for 2013-14 are $25,000, – or $35,000 if turning 60 or over. See Contributions Caps

Excess Super Contributions – Softer Treatment From 1 July 2013

From 1 July 2013 the treatment of excess concessional super contributions is under a new assessment process which replaces the very high penalties which have applied in earlier years. How it works: See Excess Contributions

Tax Free Income
Amounts that you don’t pay tax on can fall into three categories. They are:

• exempt income
• non-assessable non-exempt income, and
• other non-taxable amounts which don’t affect your tax return.

We’ve made a list of common examples of non-taxable items – read more here..

Free tax return checklists

A personal income tax return checklist is useful in ensuring that all the bases are covered when preparing a tax return. Details here

Free Tax Returns
There are a couple of ways to get free tax return help, or to obtain free resources to Do-It-Yourself.

DIY is not recommended if you have complex tax affairs, but for relatively straight-forward circumstances there are some free resources. We have a brief run-down to get started. Read here..

Free Spreadsheet Calculator

Our simple spreadsheet income tax calculator is updated annually and is free to download – available here

Checklist

See Checklist of tax changes taking effect in 2013/14

This page was last modified 2020-04-14