ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY
FEDERAL BUDGET
2018-19
SUMMARY FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
BY PETER JEFFERY, GRANT GURU
2018 FEDERAL BUDGET: ALL ABOUT
TAXATION, MINIMAL IMPACT ON
GRANTS
Treasurer Scott Morrison recently handed down his
third Federal budget. Tax measures featured heavily
in the budget with taxpayers receiving windfalls in
the form of tax rate cuts. Protecting the integrity of
the tax system was also heavily featured.
This article provides a high-level snapshot of
some key funding impacts for Councils and also
businesses that might operate in your Local
Government Area.
INFRASTRUCTURE, REGIONAL
DEVELOPMENT AND CITIES
before they become operational in the 2018-19
financial year. For larger companies, this involves a
proposed overhaul of the level of benefit companies
receive based on a sliding scale that rewards
increased R&D expenditure as a portion of overall
expenditure.
The Export Market Develop Grants remains
unchanged, despite calls for additional funding.
Other Grant programs also remain unchanged, with
a number receiving top up funding.
IN CONCLUSION
• $206.5M for round 3 of the Building Better
Regions Fund (BBRF) to support construction of
community infrastructure. This budget, by many accounts, has been quite
restrained. The focus has been primarily about the
income tax cuts and the overhaul of the personal
taxation system. There have been some changes to
the R&D Tax Incentive which might penalise larger
companies, and extension of many infrastructure
grants that could benefit Councils, however
grants that impact businesses remain somewhat
unchanged. Please find more detail below.
• $2.3M for the Regional Jobs and Investment
Package for Regional Tasmania to support
projects that diversify the regional economy,
stimulate economic growth and deliver
sustainable employment in the region. Please contact us if you or your colleagues have
further questions about how to identify and secure
funding for your priority projects, or would like to
know more about the services we provide to help
your municipality prosper.
Regional Councils will benefit from key
infrastructure programs, such as:
The Government will also provide $25.9M for the
Stronger Communities programme which provides
funding of between $2,500 and $20,000 for small
capital projects that deliver social benefits for local
communities.
IMPACT TO INDUSTRY
From a grants and funding perspective, the
Government’s main support for Industry research
and development, The R&D Tax Incentive, has
proposed changes. These will need to be legislated
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