Portfolio — 29 May 2026

Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services Daniel Mulino moved the second reading of the Treasury Laws Amendment (Delivering an Efficient and Trusted Tax System) Bill 2026 in the House on 28 May, presenting a six-schedule package that spans charitable giving, tax administration, R&D incentives, Medicare levy relief, and pension supplement targeting [TA-260528-house-f5e69c44cc32:s017].

The headline measure is Schedule 1, which removes the $2 minimum donation threshold for deductible gift recipients — a rule Mulino characterised as an anachronism — with the stated ambition of helping double charitable giving by 2030. Schedule 2 takes effect on 1 July 2026 and requires trustees to report beneficiaries' tax file numbers in the trust's income-tax return, tightening compliance in the trust sector.

Schedule 3 makes minor technical corrections to keep Treasury legislation current.

The bill's most policy-significant structural choice sits in Schedule 4, which amends the research and development tax incentive to exclude gambling and tobacco-related activities from 1 July 2025, while explicitly preserving eligibility for projects directed at harm minimisation. That carve-out signals a deliberate boundary: the government is withdrawing concessional R&D support from those industries' core activities without closing the door on research that could reduce their social costs.

Schedule 5 raises low-income Medicare levy thresholds by 2.9 percent from 1 July 2025 — broadly in line with CPI — ensuring singles, families, seniors and pensioners at the bottom of the income distribution remain exempt or pay a reduced levy. Schedule 6 restructures the pension supplement for Australians living or travelling overseas, increasing support for short-term stays and terminating it for long-term absences, a targeting adjustment with cross-portfolio implications for Social Services.

Mulino also flagged two circulated amendments directed at strengthening the integrity and fairness of Australia's financial ecosystems, though the House debate record does not detail their specific content. The bill's overall framing — modernising tax administration and pension support to make the system more efficient, fair and responsive — reflects the government's stated portfolio direction across Treasury and Financial Services.