At a press conference on Tuesday , June 19, the Treasurer indicated that the proposal to provide individuals with an optional standard deduction of $500 for work-related expenses and the cost of managing tax affairs would not be revisited.
This year’s Federal Budget in May announced that it would not go ahead. Mr Swan said the Government decided to raise the tax-free threshold and while it was “not a complete substitute” for the standard deduction, it was “a fundamental economic reform and tax reform in place that goes to workforce participation in particular”. When asked if this would be reviewed, he said “I can’t at this stage see it being revisited. I’ve never raised any expectation that it would be and I can’t see that it will be at this stage.”