THE backpacker tax has finally been settled.
The Government yesterday revealed it had struck a deal with the Greens to push their compromised bill through the Senate, looking likely to have sorted out the issue before the end of the sitting year.
The deal was expected to pass at time of print, meaning backpackers would be taxed 15 per cent of every dollar they earn, almost half of the initial proposal of 32.5 per cent as announced in the 2015 Federal Budget.
In exchange for the Greens’ support, the government agreed to scrap its plan to tax 95 per cent of backpackers’ superannuation. Instead, that rate will be set at 65 per cent.
Despite the eventual outcome, the Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) slammed the government over the way it handled the controversial backpacker tax after the Senate blocked a government compromise earlier in the week.
For more on this story, check out Friday’s The Guardian (December 2).
