Labor is changing the stage 3 tax cuts. Here's what the plan was and what stages 1 and 2 were (2024)

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been talking a lot about "stage 3 tax cuts" this week, hinting that lower-income earners may see some tax relief.

That may mean tweaking the third stage of a major taxation reform scheme, which was initially brought in by the previous Coalition government.

We're still not sure what this will mean because it's due to be discussed in a cost-of-living meeting on Wednesday afternoon.

Until we know more, here's a quick refresher on the scheme to get you up to speed.

What are the stage 3 tax cuts?

It's the third round in a series of tax changes introduced by the then-Coalition government in 2018 and 2019.

The first and second stages were implemented a few years ago.

Under that legislation, the third stage is due to take effect on July 1 this year.

Even though there's been a change of government since stages 1 and 2 were implemented, we were still expecting stage 3 to roll out as legislated by the Coalition with Labor's reluctant support under the new Albanese government.

That's because Mr Albanese went into the last election saying his government wouldn't be changing the plan.

But now it looks like there may be changes after all — more on that later on.

Why were the tax cuts introduced?

We were told the aim of the three-stage plan was to:

• reduce tax for the majority of individuals
• simplify the tax system
• protect middle-income earners from bracket creep

What is bracket creep?

Bracket creep is when someone ends up paying a bigger fraction of their income in tax because of a marginal pay rise.

This is because not everyone is taxed at the same rate — the idea is that the more people earn, the higher their tax rate is (well, up to a point, as you'll see below).

The amount of tax people pay depends on what tax bracket they're in.

And what tax bracket they're in depends on how much they earn.

Currently, there are five tax brackets.

Here's how Australia's tax system works at the moment:

• Earn up to $18,200 – pay no tax
• Earn $18,201 to $45,000 – pay 19c for each $1 over $18,200
• Earn $45,001 to $120,000 – pay $5,092 plus 32.5c for each $1 over $45,000
• Earn $120,001 to $180,000 – pay $29,467 plus 37c for each $1 over $120,000
• Earn $180,001 and higher– pay $51,667 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

So, say someone was earning $45,000 and got a $5,000 pay rise.

They'd now be earning $50,000, but paying the same rate of tax on that additional $5,000 as someone earning more than double their wage.

What happened in the Stage 1 and 2 tax cuts?

Stage 1 — four years of tax-back bonuses

Stage 1meant some people got extra money in their tax returns.

It was called the low- and middle-income tax offset (LMITO) – which was nicknamed "the Lamington".

Here's what they were in the past:

• 2018-19 financial year: Maximum of$1,080
• 2019-20 financial year:Maximum of$1,080
• 2020-21 financial year:Maximum of$1,080
• 2021-22 financial year: Maximum of $1,500

But these bonuses stopped in July 2022, so people didn't get that extra money for the 2022-23 financial year.

In fact, the ABC heard of manypeople ending up with a tax bill instead of getting a refund when they filed their returns last year.

Stage 2 — tax bracket tweaks

This part of the plan allowed some people to earn a little more before they started being taxed at a higher rate.

It changed the parameters of three of the five tax brackets— which, before then, hadn't been changed in years.

This table compares the brackets before and after stage 2changes took effect for the 2020-21 financial year:

What is the current plan forstage 3?

Stage 3 of the plan was to cut the number of tax brackets from five down to four.

This was supposed to cut out the 37 per cent bracket and lower the 32.5 per cent bracket to 30 per cent.

This change wouldallow people to earn $200,001 before being taxed at the highest rate.

Just to refresh, here's what the brackets are now:

• Earn up to $18,200 – pay no tax
• Pay a 19 per cent tax rate on each dollar earned between 18,201-$45,000
• Pay a 32.5 per cent tax rate on each dollar earned between $45,001 to $120,000
• Pay a 37 per cent tax rate on each dollar earned between $120,001 to $180,000
• Pay a 45 per cent tax rate on each dollar earned above $180,000

And here's what the brackets would be if stage 3 is rolled out as planned:

• Earn up to $18,200 – pay no tax
• Pay a 19 per cent tax rate on each dollar earned between$18,201-$45,000
• Pay a 30 per cent tax rate on each dollar earned between $45,001-$200,000
• Pay a 45 per cent tax rate on each dollar earned above $200,000

"On the face of it, it seems like a big win for middle and upper middle income earners,"ABC business editor Michael Janda says.

"But the real winners are high income earners."

He goes into more depth in this video explainer from last year (so keep that in mind with his time references):

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Are the stage 3 tax cuts still happening?

Probably, but just not in the same way we were expecting.

As we touched on before, Mr Albanese said he wouldn't be changing the plan before he was elected prime minister.

And he has repeatedly said he is sticking to the plan.

But critics of the plan say it's a big benefit for higher income earners, with middle earners seeing only a minor boost, and low income earners getting nothing.

And this criticism has grown during the current cost-of-living crisis, putting pressure on the Labor government to help lower and middle income earners.

On Tuesday, Mr Albanese told radio station KIIS FM that "everyone" would get a tax cut.

And, as pointed out by ABC political reporter Tom Crowley, this would mean changing stage 3:

"Labor backbenchers who spoke to the ABC confirmed they expected some change to stage 3at the higher end..."

When will we find out more?

Maybe this evening, but weprobably won't get anything official until Thursday morning.

That's because Labor is having a cost-of-living caucus meeting at 4pm AEDT.

We haven't been told about a post-meeting press conference, so we may not get one —which may mean no big tax cut announcements on Wednesday.

Labor could put out a press release on Wednesday evening, and journalists may be individually briefed after the meeting.

Or we might just not hear anything until Thursday.

But we were already expecting to hear from Mr Albanese on Thursday anyway because he's on the books to make an address and take questions at the National Press Club at 12:30pm AEDT.

So stay tuned.