Australia To Scrap The Plan To Cap The Self-Education Tax Deductibility

06 Nov 2013

The Coalition government is scrapping the limit on claiming tax deductions for the expenses of self-education and the Australian Computer Society (ACS) is backing this decision.

The $2000 cap, introduced by Labor's Wayne Swan, the former Treasurer, was supposed to take effect from 1^st July next year but was deferred till 2015. According to Treasurer Joe Hockey, the aim of the measure was to raise $266.7 Million.

The federal government has announced that it would scrap or alter over 90 proposed changes to superannuation and tax and Hockey's comments on not going ahead with the cap were a part of this announcement.

Hockey said that around 639,000 people living in Australia claim self-education expenses. He said that out of those, 174,000 taxpayers claim expenses of over $2000 and 81% of these 174,000 taxpayers who are affected by Labor's cap on self-education earn less than $80,000 per year.

The treasurer said that they are the people who are investing in their own education to get ahead, and the policy was flawed with no motivation other than a simple headline.

After the announcement of the cap, both the ACS and the AIIA (Australian Information Industry Association) opposed vehemently. At the time, the ACS said that reconsidering the change was a ‘matter of urgency’ and Suzanne Campbell, CEO of the AIIA, said that the policy is directly clashing with addressing ICT skills shortages in Australia.

Adam Redman, policy head of ACS said this is a great win for their members and anyone aspiring to further develop their skills in their occupation.