Dooley Blog

If you are a first home buyer, you may ask, "Whats the current situation with the First Home Owners Grant and are there any Stamp Duty exemptions available? Is it still available? "

The answer is two fold.

The First Home Owner Grant Scheme is funded by the NSW Government and was set up to to assist first home buyers to purchase their first home by providing them with a grant in the sum of $7000. The grant is not means tested, however there are eligibility criteria which must be satisfied and there is a cap placed on the value of the home.

So the answer to the first question is "Yes the grant is still available".

The second part of the question – Stamp Duty exemptions

As of 1 January 2012 The New Home scheme was introduced. This scheme provides exemptions on Stamp Duty on new homes valued up to $500,000. There are concessions on duty for new homes valued between $500,000 and $600,000.

There is no duty payable for eligible purchasers when buying a vacant block of residential land to build their home provided the land valued no more than $300,000. There are also concessions on duty for vacant land valued between $300,000 and $450,000.

First Home—New Home exemptions or concessions do not apply to the purchase of an existing dwelling.

The answer to the second part of the question is "YES" there are still exemptions available. There are however a few criteria which need to be satisfied.

You can read more about the above schemes by clicking on the link below or watch the YouTube summary at www.osr.nsw.gov.au/benefits/first_home

If you have any question or would like us to assist you with your new home purchase, please contact our friendly staff at Dooley & Associates. You may wish to browse through our conveyancing pages and obtain more useful hints to assist you with your conveyance.

 

 

Plus one coding for blog post –

From the 1 July 2013 the Government will be increasing the current guaranteed superannuation from 9% to 12%. Australian workers will benefit from the scheme as a result of recommendations made in the Henry [Tax] Review which will see the guaranteed Superannuation contribution rise annually from 1 July 2013 through to 2019-2020.

In the face of an aging Australian population, the push for the increase to superannuation has been to heighten national savings in effect increasing future retirement incomes. Approximately 8.4 million employees are anticipated to benefit from the scheme after an initial cost of $2.4 billion in order to implement the scheme.

The move by the Government to amend super payments in Australia has been green lighted as an alternative reducing tax breaks as this measure will directly stimulate private savings. Approximations made by the Government see the reforms to create superannuation savings in excess of $85 billion over the next decade.

What does this mean for businesses?

Understandably this will impact employers. To limit the impact of the changes the Government has seen to stagger the rises in compulsory superannuation contributions over several years.

Treasure Wayne Swan has been quoted as saying that these changes are the largest since the introduction of compulsory superannuation in 1992. Arguably negotiations between employer and employees will be effected as a result the Government has seen to postpone the introduction of the reform for three years until 2013 in order to allow both parties time to accommodate to the projected changes. It arguably stands to see whether these changes will benefit the future of Australia and limit individuals bargaining power.

Only time will tell whether the costs associated with the amendments to the superannuation scheme will have the intended outcome for future Australians and retirees. Yet, it is arguably a preliminary solution to improve Australian savings in the future and certainly further recommendations made by the Henry Review including the removal of tax on super contributions would be further steps towards building Australian private savings.

If you wish to read more on the projected changes to superannuation follow this link.

Or, to disuss your business with us, please make an enquiry.