10 million Aussie workers to score one-off $1500 bonus

More than 10 million working Australians will score a one-off bonus leaving them $1500 better off in an election sweetener.

Australian workers earning under $126,000 a year will score a one-off “Lamington” tax bonus courtesty of the federal budget, which will deliver a bumper tax cut of up to $1500 in July.

Ahead of Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s speech on Tuesday night, news.com.au revealed he would confirm a one-off $420 “Cost of Living Tax Offset”.

It will be delivered to 10 million working Australians in the form of a more generous low- and middle-income tax offset (LMITO), nicknamed the Lamington.

The election sweetener will bump up the low- and middle-income tax offset from $1080 to up to $1500.

The bad news is the existing $1080 Lamington tax cut will be scrapped for the 2022 financial year, as foreshadowed in previous budgets.

In other words, the Lamington is going out with a bang.

The one-off $1500 tax cut will be available from July 1 this year when you lodge your tax return for the 2021/22 financial year.

Known as “The Lamington tax cut”, it was always meant to be temporary and replaced by the so-called stage 2 tax cuts.

Originally, it was doubled in the 2019-20 budget from $530 to $1080 as part of the “back in black” budget before covid smashed the budget bottom line.

Follow our live coverage here and find out what it means for you as Tresurer Josh Frydenberg hands down the 2022 federal budget

Josh Frydenberg had a joke with photographers about the flowers he received from two female cleaners who he has known for a long time, on the morning of the 2022 Budget at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Fuel excise relief will be temporary and targeted

As revealed by news.com.au last week, the petrol excise will be slashed from midnight on Tuesday night in a “temporary and targeted” way to deliver cost-of-living relief for motorists.

The excise, currently at 44.2 cents per litre, is being halved to 22.1 cents per litre.

Mr Frydenberg stressed it would take a few days, and maybe up to two weeks, for the cut to be passed on to customers at the bowser.

“If you’re a family who needs your car to get to and from work to drop your kids at school, if you’re a tradie who is busy getting about a daily job, you are seeing the higher price for petrol and what it’s doing to your take home pay,’’ the Treasurer said.

“And so what we will be seeking to do in this budget is provide cost of living relief for those Australians that are paying higher prices at the bowser.”

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The federal budget will also include a cut to the fuel excise, which could save drivers at least $6 a tank. Picture: Tony Gough

$250 cash bonus for pensioners

Pensioners are among a selection of high need Australians who will secure a one-off cash bonus of $250 to help with cost of living pressures.

News.com.au has confirmed Services Australia is putting in place systems to pay the money within weeks as Prime Minister Scott Morrison prepares to call an election.

The one-off cash bonus will not be paid to parents on family payments but will be provided to other low income families that rely on income support, including aged pensioners.

The one-off payment of $250 is designed to ensure the cash bonus is not so generous that it puts pressure on inflation.

In an exclusive interview with news.com.au earlier this month, Mr Frydenberg said cost of living relief was his top priority and the assistance would be targeted at low income earners.

“I understand that prices have been going up. And my focus right now is to address those cost of living pressures,’’ he said.

Mr Frydenberg revealed he has relatives who are living on the pension and he accepts that “prices are high”.

“Firstly, we are focusing on low and middle income earners. And that’s important with the cost of living pressures,’’ he said.

Tuesday's budget will also contain a $250 cash bonus for pensioners.

Election to be called ‘within weeks’

Earlier, Mr Frydenberg confirmed Australia’s worst kept secret: that the Prime Minister would call an election “within weeks” as May 14 firms as a likely election date.

Speaking today at a pre-budget press conference, Mr Frydenberg confirmed Mr Morrison would call on the Governor-General to dissolve parliament in April.

“In just a matter of weeks, the Australian people will go to the polls,’’ the Treasurer said.

“They will face a clear choice between a coalition led by Scott Morrison that has delivered one of the fastest economic recoveries anywhere in the world and has the plan for the future and a Labor Party which puts all those gains at risk.”

The options the Prime Minister now has for a May election are May 7, May 14 and May 21.

Multiple sources have confirmed the Australian Electoral Commission has booked out halls for voting on May 14, although it traditionally books out multiple dates to cover all contingencies.

Labor Party strategists believe that the Prime Minister will call the election next week.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison is now expected to call the 2022 Federal Election as early as next week. Picture: Martin Ollman/Getty Images

Australia’s federal government is voted in for three-year terms, which means an election must take place by Saturday, May 21, 2022, at the absolute latest.

Mr Morrison starts the election race as the underdog, behind in the polls and with Labor retaining a two-party preferred lead of 55-45.

Labor starts the campaign on 69 seats and needs to win a net seven seats to elect a Speaker and form a government.

The Coalition holds 76 seats and it needs to hold its own seats and gain some seats to balance out any Labor wins if it is to retain government.