Backpackers in Australia who fill their travel budget with small side jobs can breathe easily for now. After heavy protests, the Australian government postponed its plans to levy the work and travel tax on tourist jobs on July 1st.
The vicarious finance minister Kelly O’Dwyer announced that the introduction of the tax for work and travel tourists will be postponed by six months in order to revise the draft.
Currently, tourists have to pay taxes in Australia if their annual income exceeds 18,200 Australian dollars. With the planned tourist tax however, every dollar made under the so called working-holiday-visa were to be taxed with 32.5 cents each.
Generally, the people affected by the new measure are young backpackers who finance their month-long travels around the continent with small jobs in agriculture or gastronomy. Each year, the country records an average of 600,000 such international working tourists – and especially the agricultural industry counts on these young seasonal workers.
Moreover, the tourism industry fears that young travelers might avoid Australia because of the work and travel tax and would visit New Zealand or Canada instead.