The Federal Government has proposed a flood levy for the 2012 financial year, to help pay for the reconstruction following the Queensland Floods. Update: The proposed levy still needs to be passed by parliament. The Flood Levy was passed by both houses on 22 March 2011.
We have incorporated the Flood Levy into our easy to use Tax Calculator 2012.
Here are the things you need to know about how the levy may affect you:
- The levy will apply to those individuals who earn above $50,000 in the 2012 financial year. No levy will be charged to those who earn less than $50,000.
- The levy is calculated at 0.5% for taxpayers who earn between $50,001 and $100,000 in the 2011 -2012 financial year
- For those who earn above $100,000 in a year, the levy is calculated at 1.0%.
- Just as taxpayers are charged a Medicare levy when they lodge their tax return, the flood levy will be applied in the same way so taxpayers do not need to do anything other than lodge their tax return.
- If a taxpayer makes regular PAGY instalments, the levy will be applied to these instalments.
- The levy does not apply to businesses. The levy only applied to individual taxpayers so those individuals who have businesses will not be charged twice.
- The only individuals who are exempt from paying the levy are those who earn less than $50,000 in the 2011-2012 financial year and those who have previously received an Australian Government Disaster Recovery Payment or who have been a victim of the QLD flood disaster.
- The levy will only apply to the 2011-2012 financial year.
Treasury has created a table to assist you with calculating how much levy you will be charged. Using $60,000 as an example of annual income, it is calculated as follows:
- $60,000 annual income falls within the 0.5% levy category.
- Just as you can calculate your income tax based on annual income tax rates, the 0.5% levy will apply to the income you earn that exceeds $50,001.
- Since it is $9,999 more than the minimum annual income amount, 0.5% of $9,999 is calculated:
- $9,999 x 0.005 =$50.00
- This is then divided by 52 weeks to give an indication of how much this will affect you weekly
- $50.00/52= $0.96 per week.
| Taxable Income ($pa) |
Levy Amount Per Week* ($) |
| 15,000 |
0 |
| 20,000 |
0 |
| 25,000 |
0 |
| 30,000 |
0 |
| 35,000 |
0 |
| 40,000 |
0 |
| 45,000 |
0 |
| 50,000 |
0 |
| 55,000 |
0.48 |
| 60,000 |
0.96 |
| 65,000 |
1.44 |
| 70,000 |
1.92 |
| 75,000 |
2.40 |
| 80,000 |
2.88 |
| 90,000 |
3.85 |
| 100,000 |
4.81 |
| 110,000 |
6.73 |
| 120,000 |
8.65 |
| 130,000 |
10.58 |
| 140,000 |
12.50 |
| 150,000 |
14.42 |
| 160,000 |
16.35 |
| 170,000 |
18.27 |
| 180,000 |
20.19 |
| 200,000 |
24.04 |
| 250,000 |
33.65 |
| 300,000 |
43.27 |