Treasurer Joe Hockey has warded off criticism saying backpackers had been "enjoying" a tax free threshold of almost $20,000 and the playing field needed to be balanced out.
It would have boosted the tax free threshold from $18,200 to $19,400 and been worth more than $200 a year for people earning between $22,000 and $37,000, with smaller benefits flowing to those earning up to $60,000.
He wrote that his question on tax-free thresholds had shown politicians to be "out of touch", and that he had been "dropped, probed and attacked … with no thought to the mental wellbeing of my children" as a result.
The package aims to generate savings equivalent to 3percentt of GDP, raising income tax for high earners and lowering tax-free thresholds.
The government may also lower or scrap tax-free thresholds on property holdings and the self-employed, raise consumption taxes on soft drinks and certain fuel types or shift a range of products to a higher VAT-bracket, other newspapers said.
"You're gonna lift the tax-free threshold for rich people.
Most customers benefit from an interest-free threshold – for standard current account customers it is £100.
She has always managed to stay under the £4,250 tax-free threshold.
What was the point of George Osborne increasing the tax-free threshold to £9,205 in the budget?
Canavan suggests allowing any amount of splitting income up to the tax-free threshold.
And if you have two earners, both receive the tax-free threshold.
