Budget 2017 : Farmers
Farm Business Concessional Loans Scheme extended
Eligibility to the Farm Business Concessional Loans Scheme will be extended to assist farmers and their partners who have received their full entitlement for the Farm Household Allowance (FHA) and who are not in receipt of any other form of Commonwealth income support.
Former FHA recipients will be eligible for loans of up to 50% of their current debt position to a maximum of $1 million for debt refinancing purposes only. Loan applications will be accepted on the basis of all existing eligibility criteria with the exception of the requirement to be in a rain deficient area.
Agricultural levy changes
A series of levy changes to agricultural levies and export charges. These are:
| Item | Component | Levy | Date of effect |
| Bananas levy | Plant Health Australia component | Increased by $0.04897 per kg to $0.05 cents per kg | 1 April 2017 |
| Marketing component | Increased to $0.15 per kg | 1 April 2017 | |
| Avocados | Plant Health Australia component | Levy of $0.01 per kg introduced | 1 April 2017 |
| Reduction of $0.01 per kg in the avocado R&D levy rate to 2.9 cents per kilogram. | 1 April 2017 | ||
| Seed cotton | R&D levy | $3.99 per tonne levy introduced | 1 April 2017 |
| Plant Health Australia component | $0.07 per tonne levy introduced | 1 April 2017 | |
| Tea Tree Oil | R&D levy | $0.25 per kg levy introduced | 1 July 2017 |
| Thoroughbreds | R&D levy | $10 per mare covered (paid by stallion owner) or returned (paid by the broodmare owner) per season | 1 July 2017 |
| Laying chickens | Emergency Animal Disease Response | Reduced from $0.014 per one day old chick to zero | 1 July 2017 |
SOURCE: Knowledge Shop
To discuss how this may impact your circumstances please contact PPT on (03) 5331 3711.
DISCLAIMER: The material and contents provided in this publication are informative in nature only. It is not intended to be advice and you should not act specifically on the basis of this information alone. If expert assistance is required, professional advice should be obtained.
