New laws, fees and funding coming into effect in 2017

THE new year is here, and so are a range of new laws. If you’re an aged pensioner, an asthmatic or pay extra into your superannuation, these laws affect you.

THE new year is here, and so are a range of new laws which will impact on millions of people. If you’re an aged pensioner, an online shopper, an asthmatic or pay extra into your superannuation, these laws affect you.

Age pension assets test — January (Australia-wide)

Far reaching changes to the age pension assets test came into effect on January 1.

These changes are intended to increase the pension for less well off seniors while reducing (or even removing) it for wealthier ones.

The new assets test strips cash from those with substantial investments including in such things as real estate or superannuation.

Under the changes, the level at which the pensions starts to reduce due to the value of assets will be increased, but the rate of that tapering off will be significantly steepened.

The amount of assets (excluding the family home) someone can have before pensions are hit is increasing but pensions will cut out more quickly for those with assets exceeding $375,000 for homeowner couples, $450,000 for single non-homeowners, and $575,000 for non-homeowner couples.

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Far reaching changes to the age pension assets test came into effect on January 1.

Online shopping — July (Australia-wide)

If you enjoy online shopping from cheaper overseas sites, prepare for some disappointment.

Under new tax regulations coming into effect this year, overseas businesses with an annual turnover of $75,000 or more will be required under Australian law to register with the ATO to collect GST on all goods sold, including purchases under the current low-value threshold of $1000.

The change was designed to harmonise tax rules for Australian and foreign retailers after local stores blamed slow sales on their overseas competitors having an unfair price advantage on goods priced below $1000.

According to Treasury, the measure will see a bump of $300 million in GST revenue over the forward estimates period, not accounting for collection expenses.

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Cap on extra super payments — July (Australia-wide)

Some aspects of the Federal Government’s controversial superannuation reforms come into effect from July 1.

The Government decided to do away completely with the controversial $500,000 lifetime cap on non-concessional extra contributions. This is replaced by a new measure limiting non-concessional contributions to $100,000 a year.

That means workers will be able to put up to $100,000 a year to top up their superannuation from after tax income until their superannuation reaches a limit of $1.6 million.

Education and student loans

A New VET student loan program began on January 1, replacing the old VET FEE-HELP scheme.

Students can get loans up to $5000, $10,000 or $15,000 depending on costs for a limited range of vocational courses.

The Industry Skills Fund, offering grants to help small businesses train staff, has now closed.

The period students from regional and remote areas have to work to get the Youth Allowance is being cut from 18 months to 14 months.

Extra funding has also been made available to schools for students with disabilities.

And six research block grant schemes for universities has been consolidated into two simpler programs.

This year also brings a new trial of a Launch into Work program, offering training, work experience, and mentoring to prepare disadvantaged job seekers for employment.

Mepolizumab has been listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for the treatment of severe asthma.

Health and aged care

Mepolizumab (trade name: Nucala) for the treatment of severe asthma has been listed on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme.

This year also bring a price cut for PBS prescriptions of Thiamine hydrochloride, used for treating vitamin B1 deficiency.

New changes to the Child Dental Benefits Schedule give children aged between two and 17 access to basic dental services, capped at $700 over two years.

There will also be an increase in the amount paid to pharmacists dispensing medicines to Remote Area Aboriginal Health Services.

This year changes have been made to aged-care provider funding, including increasing supplements for rural, remote and specialty services.

Specialist dementia care units in 31 regions will be set up.

And rental income from the former family home of aged-care residents will be treated the same as pension income tests and the aged-care means test.

Farmer will be affected by laws changing the way levies are split. Picture: Thinkstock

OTHER MAJOR CHANGES TO FEDERAL LAWS FROM JANUARY 1:

TAXES

* Backpacker tax — working holiday-makers will have to pay 15 per cent tax from the first dollar they earn and forego 65 per cent of any superannuation earned when they leave the country. They can no longer claim any tax-free threshold.

AGRICULTURE

* Changes to the way levies for cattle, goat, lamb and sheep slaughters are split between R&D and marketing.

* New melon levy of $0.004 per kilo for R&D and Plant Health Australia membership.

CHILDCARE

* Trial program offering subsidies on nanny fees closes to new applications.

ENVIRONMENT

* Green Army program ends, no new projects accepted.

* New grants available for councils, community and environmental groups to improve local parks.

WELFARE

* Tougher compliance measures for people receiving welfare payments, including more data matching with tax office information about income.

* All newly arrived migrants have to wait two years before becoming eligible for a range of welfare payments, even if they are family of Australian citizens or permanent residents.

PASSPORTS

* $20 increase to adult passport fees and $10 for children and seniors.

* $54 increase for priority processing of passport applications.