Carbon Tax Facts: what will you save and when?
So, that’s the easy part out of the way.
After weeks of flip-flopping by our newest Senators, 60 hours of debate, a few amendments and a lot of confusion, the carbon tax has finally been repealed.
And the nation now finds itself plunged into a fresh round of confusion over what it will all mean for the average household.
The FiftyUp Club will keep pushing the Federal government for some facts on what our members will save and when.
For now, it’s about as clear as mud. But here’s what we know so far:
- Energy companies now have 30 days to prepare a statement for the consumer watchdog about how the repeal will impact on their prices.
- In any case, they say they have already begun preparing to refund any Carbon Tax collected this month and to drop their prices in future.
- But we won’t see the impact on our power bills until August at the earliest, and more likely September.
- And it remains to be seen just what the impact will be: there will be a refund of carb Tax paid since July 1 (about 50c a day), and then a price drop. We’ve been told again and again that the tax increased bills by about 9% on average, but we’ll believe 9% price drops when we see them!
- As for other businesses such as supermarkets and airlines, they do not have to justify their prices to the watchdog, but they will be busted if they make any “false or misleading statements” about their prices and the Carbon Tax.
- So even though the likes of Coles, Woolworths, Qantas and Virgin have said their prices are unlikely to change much if at all, the watchdog says it will be “scrutinizing” their claims that prices didn’t rise when the Tax came in.
- And some councils, such as Brisbane City, have already begun preparing to refund some rates. A reduction in the cost of landfill means councils will save, but won’t pass back savings until next year probably.
As you can see, however, there is much that remains to be explained. So we will keep a close eye on prices and keep you up to date.
