Newsletter
July 2015 Newsletter
Dependent spouse tax offset to be abolished
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The Government has proposed legislative amendments to abolish the dependent spouse tax offset (DSTO) and expand the dependent (invalid and carer) tax offset (DICTO). Under the changes:
- a taxpayer who has a spouse who is genuinely unable to work due to invalidity or carer obligations is eligible for DICTO (worth up to $2,471 (indexed)) if the taxpayer contributes to the maintenance of their spouse and meets certain income tests and other eligibility criteria; and
- taxpayers eligible for the zone tax offset (ZTO), overseas forces tax offset (OFTO) or overseas civilians tax offset (OCTO) can receive a further entitlement of 50% or 20% of their DICTO entitlement as a component of ZTO, OFTO or OCTO, depending on where they reside.
The amendments are proposed to generally apply to the 2014–2015 income year and to all later income years.