The 2026-27 Federal Budget is now on the table, and several measures land squarely in the new financial year. Some put money back in your pocket automatically; others, payday super especially, need real preparation before 1 July. Here is what matters for individuals and small businesses, and when each change takes effect.
A small tax cut for almost everyone
From 1 July 2026, the tax rate on income between $18,201 and $45,000 drops from 16% to 15%. It applies automatically through payroll withholding (no action needed) and is worth up to around $268 a year, with a further cut already legislated for the year after. Modest per person, but it touches nearly every taxpayer in the country.
The $1,000 no-receipts deduction
From 2026-27, workers can claim an instant $1,000 deduction for work-related expenses without keeping receipts. Treasury estimates an average benefit of about $205 for over six million workers, and it removes a pile of shoebox-receipt admin.
The key planning point: if your genuine work-related expenses exceed $1,000, you can still claim them the traditional way with records. The instant deduction is a floor, not a cap, so keep the receipts if you usually claim more.
Payday super: the big one for employers
From 1 July 2026, superannuation guarantee must be paid at the same time as wages (not quarterly) and must reach employees’ funds within 7 business days of payday. This applies to every employer, from one casual staff member up. It is the largest operational change to super in decades.
- Confirm your payroll software is payday-super compliant before July
- The ATO Small Business Superannuation Clearing House closes 30 June 2026; move off it now
- Re-plan cash flow: super becomes a per-pay-run cost, not a quarterly one
- Late super attracts the Superannuation Guarantee Charge; the cost of getting this wrong went up
Small business wins
The $20,000 instant asset write-off becomes permanent: no more annual cliffhanger about whether it will be extended, which finally makes equipment planning predictable.
From 1 July 2026, companies can carry back a tax loss against tax paid up to two years earlier, turning a bad year into a refund rather than just a future deduction. And from mid-2027, small businesses can opt in to monthly PAYG instalments calculated from real-time figures in their accounting software, smoothing cash flow instead of lumpy quarterly surprises.
Further out
A $250 annual tax offset for Australian workers, including sole traders, arrives from 2027-28, and start-ups that make losses in their first two years will be able to convert them into refundable offsets from 1 July 2028. Nothing to do yet, but worth factoring into multi-year planning.
What to do before 1 July
Every budget produces winners by preparation rather than by luck. A 30-minute conversation now beats discovering these rules at lodgement time next year.
- Employers: get payday-super ready (software, clearing house, cash flow)
- Everyone: finish EOFY planning under the current rules (deductions, prepayments, super top-ups)
- Bigger claimers: keep records; the $1,000 instant deduction will not beat a real claim
- Book a planning session if any measure changes your numbers materially