24th Feb 2011, 12:55 PM – Representatives Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011, Income Tax Rates Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 - Second Reading - Read a second time

The majority voted in favour of a motion to read the bills for a second time.(Read more about the stages that a bill must pass through to become law here. ) This means that the majority agree with the main idea of the bills and that they can now discuss them in more detail.

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 Tax Laws Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 was introduced to implement a one-year progressive flood and cyclone reconstruction levy in the form of additional income tax in the 2011-12 financial year. The related Income Tax Rates Amendment (Temporary Flood Reconstruction Levy) Bill 2011 amends the Income Tax Rates Act 1986 to set the rate of extra income tax 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).

The 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