Bomb cyclone

Good morning AusCorp. The shortest day has been and gone, the EOFY advertisements have rolled off and your social media is starting to fill up with people on their European summer holidays. Welcome to July!

This month we cover the consistent rise of house prices, superannuation changes and the Lions tour. Thanks for being part of the Flat White readership!

Every morning at 8AM, we’ll send you an email with everything you need to know across Australian business, global and company news in a 2-minute read.

💡 Brain’s Trust

1. It’s always housing

Here’s a line you’ve heard before: house prices are going up. But it’s not just a short-term increase, forecasts suggest they could rise another 10–15% over the next two years. The main driver? A severe housing shortage. Anyone who’s been to an open home and sized up the 100 other hopeful occupants knows exactly what that feels like.

Like many governments before them, both here and overseas, the current leadership has pledged to build more homes - 1.2 million over five years, to be exact. But that target’s starting to look a bit like your last New Year’s resolution, given that completions are stuck at around 180,000 a year. In cities like Sydney and Melbourne, the imbalance is especially stark: demand is soaring, supply isn’t catching up, and affordability keeps slipping further out of reach.

While mortgage holders are still copping higher interest rates, those without a mortgage are left wondering how they’ll ever get a foot on the ladder.

2. A cheeky bump

Unless you’re that one friend who pays for everything in cash, your super contributions are getting a bump from July 1. The final increase to the Superannuation Guarantee rate has landed, nudging employer contributions up from 11.5% to 12%.

While this quiet win plays out in the background for millions of Australians, the biggest impact hits a much smaller crowd: the wealthiest 0.5% of super account holders, who are now facing a new tax on balances exceeding $3 million. Labor has doubled the tax rate from 15% to 30% on the portion of balances above that threshold which while it sounds steep, is still lower than the average income tax rate for high earners.

Other notable points:

• Superannuation will now be paid on government-funded paid parental leave.

• The transfer balance cap - the limit on how much super you can move into a tax-free retirement account - has increased to $2 million.

• Caps on how much you can contribute before and after tax remain unchanged.

The majority of people under 30 will never have more than $3M in super

3. Tax time

Think your gaming console counts as a work expense? Think again. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has unveiled some of the more creative questionable deduction attempts from last year’s tax returns. Some of these include claims for air fryers, designer handbags, swimwear and even dual vacuum cleaners. The ATO is cracking down hard on what it sees as a growing culture of “claim now, justify later.”

It’s easy to see how lines get blurred, especially with the rise of remote work and side hustles. Many Australians assume that expenses tied to their jobs are automatically deductible, but the rules are actually pretty strict. That means no more casual claims under the $300 no-receipt rule for your dry-cleaning without actually spending the money and no double-dipping on items like internet and electricity if you’re using the fixed 70-cents-per-hour method for working from home deductions.

We recommend you don’t claim those overtime meal expenses or the inflated motor vehicle expenses at 88 cents per kilometre if you didn’t actually drive up to 5,000km…

🏉 Sports Catalogue

The British and Irish Lions have arrived. A quick recap for the non-sporting readers: every four years, England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales select their best rugby players to form a combined British & Irish Lions team. They tour one of three rugby nations; New Zealand, Australia or South Africa, making it a once-in-12-year experience for the host nation.

The Lions are a great rugby tradition, always bringing a strong team and an even stronger travelling support crew who typically specialise in sinking pints. If you live in an area with a lot of Brits or Irish (we’re looking at you, Coogee), expect it to turn into a sea of red jerseys on game day.

The Lions got off to a strong start, comprehensively beating the Western Force 54–7 in a warm-up game. They’ll face the other Super Rugby teams before taking on Australia at Suncorp Stadium on the 19th of July, followed by a visit to the MCG on the 26th. The final clash is at Accor Stadium on the 2nd of August. Let’s see if Joe Schmidt and the Wallabies can pull off a big series win against the odds.

 🗞️ Workplace Watch

1. JPMorgan will fire new graduates in their US branches if they accept a role within their first 18 months of working at the bank. LINK

2. The Microsoft-backed company Builder.AI worth US$1.5 billion was discovered to actually be 700 hundred computer engineers based in India, rather than any AI at all. LINK

3. Cybersecurity experts predict 25% of job applicants could be fake by FY28 due to AI deepfake tools. LINK

4. The Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating Merivale for alleged underpayment of migrant workers and staff overwork. LINK

5. A Westpac executive has launched legal action against the bank over alleged whistleblower retaliation regarding reported fraud. LINK

6. Australian employers are requesting flexible work-from-home penalty rates to boost productivity before industrial relations reforms. LINK

 🗞️ On Your Minds

🇦🇺 TOP AUSTRALIAN NEWS RECAP

1. Half of recent first-home buyers regret their purchases due to overpayment or poor suburb selection. LINK

2. Young Australians aged 18 to 34 are reducing spending on essentials whilst maintaining higher entertainment expenses. LINK

3. Recreational walking has emerged as Australia's most popular sport among 141 activities. LINK

4. The ATO will remove tax deductibility of interest on outstanding debts from 1 July as new legislation aims to tighten compliance rules. LINK

🌏 THE ODD PICKS

1. 6 habits your gut is begging you to break, according to gut doctors. LINK

2. The New Orleans prison breakout has captured global attention, with some betting agencies providing odds on the last inmate to be recaptured. LINK

3. I started using the "1-Minute Rule" and now I spend way less time cleaning. LINK

4. What if you had all the money in the world? It turns out it wouldn't be that useful. LINK

5. A team of students built a robot that can solve a Rubik's cube in a record-breaking 0.103 seconds, with the previous record at 0.305 seconds. LINK

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