Millions of Australians to face higher tax brackets; Boral and CSR propose $230 million joint venture: Midday Roundup

Taxpayers could be hit with an extra $32.5 billion in tax in the next decade, unless the federal government make changes to personal income tax brackets, according to a new report.

Research commissioned by The Australian and conducted by the University of Canberra found if there are no changes to the personal income tax brackets, the number of people paying the top tax rate would increase by 134% in the next 10 years to just under 900,000 people.

The number of Australians paying the second highest rate, 37 cents for the dollar, would jump by 85% to 3.7 million.

Boral and CSR propose $230 million joint venture

Boral and CSR have proposed a $230 million joint venture to combine their brick operations, in the face of declining demand.

The move, if approved, will see all the companies’ brick operations on the east coast of Australia and Tasmania combine.

The companies are seeking approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for clearance of the transaction, which will see CSR own 60% and Boral own 40% of the joint venture.

“The Australian cladding industry has faced major changes in demand over the past 30 years resulting in a significant reduction in brick use,” Boral chief executive Mike Kane said in a statement.

“This joint venture is aimed at driving efficiencies across the combined network of operations and would provide a path for Boral to realise acceptable returns for our brick business and therefore secure our long-term commitment to the industry.”

Shares flat on open

Aussie shares have opened slightly down this morning, as Wall Street ended the day flat yesterday.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was down 4.7 points to 5405.2 at 11:59am AEDT. Overnight the Dow Jones closed 0.45 points down at 16,575.55.