Medicare levy increase rolls out

HAVE you noticed that your pay packet was a little lighter this month? Most Australians have been hit with a pay cut. Here’s why.

DID your pay packet feel a little lighter this week?

You may noticed your take-home pay has gone down a little since the financial year kicked in two weeks ago. You might be scratching your head and wondering if you jumped a HECS bracket or if it was that superannuation increase.

But actually, it’s because the Medicare levy has grown from 1.5 per cent to 2 per cent. With all the kerfuffle surrounding this year’s budget announcements, you’d be forgiven for letting the levy increase slip your mind. It was, after all, announced in the 2013 budget under the previous government and so many other budget-y things have come along since then.

The money from the half a per cent jump will be placed in the DisabilityCare Australia Fund, which will be used to for any additional costs needed for delivering the National Disability Insurance. Scheme.

So how much extra will you fork out a year?

$30,000 — $150

$40,000 — $200

$50,000 — $250

$60,000 — $300

$70,000 — $350

$80,000 — $400

$90,000 — $450

$100,000 — $500

$100,000 plus - add an extra $50 for every $10,000.

Of course, some people have also seen their take-home pays go down as a result of superannuation changes. If your salary agreement is a package (ie. the figure is wage and superannuation in one), then there’ll be a small decrease of 0.25 per cent which has been redirected to your superannuation payments. Superannuation contributions jumped from 9.25 per cent to 9.5 per cent on July 1.

If your salary is wage plus super, then it won’t have affected what gets deposited into your bank account. And you’ll get a couple of extra bills in your super.