24th Feb 2011, 1:09 PM – Representatives Income Tax Rates Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 - Third Reading - Read a third time

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bill for a third time.(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through to become law here. )

This means that the majority agree with the bill and that it can now be sent to the Senate for their consideration.

One member, Nationals MP Tony Crook, rebelled and crossed the floor to vote 'aye' with the Government.(Read more about what it means to cross the floor in our FAQ Section. )

Background to the bill

The bill was introduced to amend the Income Tax Rates Act 1986 to set the rate of extra income tax payable for the 2011–12 financial year at either 0.5 per cent (for the part of a taxpayer’s taxable income that exceeds $50 000 but does not exceed $100 000) or 1 per cent (for the part of the taxpayer’s taxable income that exceeds $100 000).(Read more about the bill, including its explanatory memorandum and bills digest, here. )

However, this extra income tax will only be payable if the Parliament passes the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011.

Together, these two bills have been made in response to a number of catastrophic weather events, particularly the unprecedented level of flooding that occurred in Queensland in late 2010 and early 2011.(Read more about this history in the bills digest for the Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011. More information about the Queensland floods is available on Wikipedia here.)

References