If you have yet not heard of the controversy surrounding the Australian Backpackers Tax, then you are either living under a rock, or you do not read the news. Irrespective of the reasons stated above, the backpackers tax has attracted a number of eyeballs in the past years, and for good reasons. In this article, we are going to talk about how the backpackers tax was an unfair thing levied onto the people of Australia, and how a British woman helped in repelling the same. We would further talk about the effects this ruling will have over people who are holiday workers.
What Is the Backpacker Tax about?
The backpackers tax was introduced in January, of the year 2017 when the government decided to remove the tax-free threshold from eighteen thousand two hundred dollars that was levied on backpackers.
To explain this clearly, we need you to pay undivided attention. The government in its ruling made it clear that backpackers who were residing in the Australian country, or people who had a 417 and/or 462 Working Holiday Visa would no longer fall under the tax brackets. However, it is not all good news; the Government had however started levying a 15% tax on every single income up to thirty seven thousand dollars. The government had also mentioned that any income upward of thirty seven thousand will be taxed proportionately (i.e, higher the income, higher the tax amount to be paid).
To put it in short, backpackers ended up paying more tax than Australian citizens themselves! Hence, this step by the Government resulted in a dwindling number of backpackers across the country. A less number of backpackers would mean difficulty in business for regional farms and cottage industries that were heavily dependent on backpackers. Furthermore, businesses that required seasonal workers were also affected due to a shortage of backpackers.
How Does It Affect Holiday Workers?
With such a landmark decision taken by the Australian court, the repellation of the Backpackers’ Tax can see a number of benefits.
Firstly, this ruling can gradually bring back the lessening number of backpackers across Australia and give its MSMEs a much-needed boost. This can also mean that a number of people will get a tax rebate which they can avail from various trading apps in Australia. Furthermore, this can be an extremely beneficial ruling in terms of tax levied from holiday workers.
Holiday workers are essentially people who engage in seasonal work (mostly during holidays) to make an extra buck. Before the ruling, these people had to pay taxes for every single penny that they made, irrespective of a tax-slab. Backpackers usually have a meager income, and it was an unjust move on terms of the Government to levy stringent taxes on them. Moreover, holiday workers end up paying more money in taxes than normal citizens did, and this proved to be a vital ground for discrimination on the basis of nationality.
