Latest news with #FTB
RTÉ News
12 hours ago
- Business
- RTÉ News
First time buyer property and mortgages rise significantly
One in three first time buyer (FTB) homes were valued over €400,000 in 2024, three times the 2019 share, according to the latest BPFI mortgage report. The Mortgage Market Profile Report H2 2024, by Banking and Payments Federation Ireland shows that there has been a significant increase in FTB property and mortgage values between 2019 and 2024, as well as an increase in mortgage repayments and incomes. This latest report in the series, looks at the profile of borrowers, their loans and property types on a national and regional basis. For first time buyers the median property value rose by over €100,000 between 2019 and 2024, up 37% to almost €372,000. During the same period the median mortgage value increased by €78,000, or 36%, to almost €294,000. While the median basic household income for first time buyers increased by 22% from €70,000 in 2019 to €85,000 last year. There was also an increase in the share of higher value mortgages, over €300,000, which doubled to 44%. The share of lower value mortgages, up to €200,000 more than halved to 21%. Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland BPFI CEO Brian Hayes said the increasing house price inflation is no great surprise because we have too many people chasing too few homes. "It highlights the kind of pressures that the first time buyer is in, where on average they have to get a lending position just short of €300,000 and on average they're buying a House of about €370,000. "Now the other side of that is, of course, that over the same five year period the average increase in first time buyer incomes is up about 22%., so you have this kind of perfect storm, a lot of people chasing too few houses, incomes rising and the economy at full tilt. "And I think there are particular issues for first time buyers, which I think everyone recognizes." The Central Bank has this week revised downwards its forecast for how many homes will be built this year ( to 32,500) and over the following two years. Mr Hayes noted that the banks are fundamental to the financing of not just mortgages, but also to the financing of development finance, adding that a third of all the homes built in the last two years have been built by the Irish banking sector in terms of development finance. "What's critically important is that we get international capital back, the big difference in the last two years has been the the fall off in international capital. "My message is that international capital goes where its welcome and it stays where it's well treated and it wants to see consistency. "I think the international capital that is critical for apartment development, the banks play a big role in that, not only do we take part of the lending position there, but we also act with international capital, because we have distribution models, we know the economy and we know the sectors. "International Capital Partners with the banking sectors here in Ireland and we need that partnership up and running again and I hope the certainty that the government have now given on the rent pressure zone will help that international capital to come back to the country."
SBS Australia
3 days ago
- Business
- SBS Australia
What's changing from 1 July: Wages, super, Centrelink payments and more
Australia's lowest-paid workers will receive a pay boost from 1 July, with the national minimum wage increasing by 3.5 per cent. The new rate will be $24.95 per hour, or $948 per week, based on a 38-hour week. The Fair Work Commission decision, handed down earlier this month , affects more than 2.6 million Australians and will apply from the first full pay period on or after 1 July. Millions of Australians will also see a boost to their Centrelink payments, with a 2.4 per cent increase to help ease the rising cost of living. For families receiving Family Tax Benefit (FTB) Part A, the maximum rate of payment for children aged under 13 will increase to a new rate of $227.36 a fortnight. For children aged 13 or over, the rate will increase to $295.82 a fortnight. The maximum rate of Family Tax Benefit Part B will increase to $193.34, and for families with a youngest child aged five or over, the rate will increase to $134.96 a fortnight. The FTB has been increased annually since its introduction in 2000, under both Labor and Coalition governments. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek said in a statement the payments were essential for helping families manage the cost of raising children and that indexation is one way the government is making sure support keeps up with inflation. The superannuation guarantee, which is the minimum amount employers must contribute to their employees' super, is set to rise from 11.5 per cent to 12 per cent. The new rate applies to all salary and wages paid on or after 1 July, even if the work was performed before that date. The paid parental leave superannuation contribution will apply to parents receiving government-funded parental leave pay on or after 1 July. From 1 July, Australian families will benefit from a more generous paid parental leave scheme, with the amount of government-funded leave increasing from 20 to 22 weeks. This is part of the federal government's plan to progressively expand the scheme to 26 weeks by July 2026, the equivalent of six months of paid leave. Once fully rolled out, families will receive around $24,000 in total support following the birth or adoption of a child. The policy is designed to give parents more time at home with their newborns and greater flexibility in how leave is taken. Parents can choose to take leave separately or at the same time, and spread it across two years, allowing for a staggered return to work or shared caregiving. The government has made changes to Australia's skilled visa system in an effort to reduce worker exploitation and attract talent. A new Core Skills Occupation List will replace the existing Skilled Occupation List, focusing on roles with genuine shortages. Employers will have to meet stricter criteria, including offering market salary rates and proving they've advertised the job locally. The Department of Home Affairs also announced that income thresholds for skilled visas will increase by 4.6 per cent. This change will not apply to existing visa holders and nominations lodged before 1 July 2025. NSW will introduce harsher penalties for drivers using their mobile phones. From 1 July, those caught using their phone behind the wheel, even while stationary at traffic lights, can be fined up to $1,209 and lose five demerit points. In Victoria, the road rule requiring drivers to slow down to 40 km/h for emergency responders will now include tow truck, roadside assistance and incident response workers. Queenslanders will see a 3.4 per cent hike in vehicle registration fees as well as traffic fines. Nationally, AI-powered surveillance cameras capable of detecting mobile phone use will be rolled out, as governments crack down on distracted driving.
San Francisco Chronicle
13-06-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Popular California tax payment system is down — just as quarterly deadline nears
Californians trying to pay their second-quarter estimated taxes before Monday's deadline through the Franchise Tax Board's MyFTB application have been unable to access the online service since at least Tuesday night. A warning on the FTB's Maintenance page as of Thursday afternoon said, 'We are experiencing technical issues that may impact some of our online services such as MyFTB, CalFile, and MEC (minimum essential coverage) Information Reporting. The issues also affect information we can provide over the phone.' It says taxpayers who need to make an online payment 'can use our version of Web Pay that doesn't require you to log into MyFTB. You can also use our general chat for non-confidential tax questions.' 'Earlier this week FTB experienced an internal system problem that affected some online self-service applications. The outage was not due to a cyber attack. Online services will be fully operational by Friday morning,' FTB spokesman Andrew LePage said via email. He did not elaborate on when the outage started or the cause. Individuals and businesses are encouraged to set up a MyFTB account, which stores a wealth of taxpayer information, according to the FTB's website. It lets individuals view account balances, estimated payments and credits, payment history, a list and image of tax returns, notices and correspondence, activities that occurred on their account, a list of authorized representatives who can access their account and California wage and withholding information. They can view and update contact information and access WebPay and CalFile, a free tax-filing service for some people. Palo Alto resident Skip Shapiro said he made his first-quarter estimated tax payment through his MyFTB account earlier his year but when he tried to access it Tuesday evening to make his second-quarter payment, it was down. 'It is troubling that what presumably is a critical means by which the state collects revenue is out of order,' he said via email. Shapiro said he ended up using WebPay, 'which doesn't require a user ID and password (i.e. an account), so any payment made is a 'one-off' transaction whose history is not retained by the application. Conversely, this information is stored in my myFTB account.' Spidell, an Anaheim publisher of state and federal tax information, has a brief note about the outage on its website and how it will affect tax professionals who — on behalf of their clients — need to make certain payments or ask the FTB questions.
Yahoo
03-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Centrelink cash boost over 400,000 Aussies have weeks left to confirm: 'Get what's yours'
You wouldn't leave money sitting on your front porch, would you? Yet, that's effectively what thousands of families are doing by not confirming their income with Centrelink. More than 170,000 Australian families who get Family Tax Benefit (FTB) and 240,000 families who get Child Care Subsidy (CCS) risk missing out on getting cash back through top-up or arrears payments. That's simply because they haven't confirmed their income for the 2023-24 financial year. Whether you receive FTB, or CCS, or both — the message is the same — confirm your income by June 30 and get what's yours. Services Australia has sent reminders to families to confirm their income, but unfortunately many are yet to act. RELATED $1,831 Centrelink payment change coming within weeks: 'You'll get more' Coles and Woolworths checkout move that there's no coming back from: 'Will only accelerate' Aussie couple making $1,200 a day from job anyone can do: 'Went off like an explosion' You might have to repay some or all of the FTB you received in 2023-24 You'll lose any additional top-up, arrears or supplement payments And if you were planning to lodge a lump sum claim, it will be too late after June 30. Your CCS payments will stop Your CCS will reduce to 0 per cent from 7 July 2025, meaning you'll have to pay full child care fees. To confirm your 2023-24 family income, you (and your partner if you have one) need to lodge your 2023-24 tax return with the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Or, if you don't need to lodge a tax return, you can confirm your family income by advising Services Australia that you're not required to lodge, using your Centrelink online account through myGov or the Express Plus Centrelink app. If you're using the app, select More from your home screen, then select Advise tax non-lodgement. Not sure if you need to lodge a tax return? If there's a reason you can't confirm your income, you should call the Services Australia Families line to discuss your options. Each year Services Australia compares a family's income estimate with their actual income at the end of each financial year (this is called balancing). Most families tend to overestimate their income, so they get a handy top up or supplement payment at the end of the financial year. For more information head to Service Australia's website. * Figures based on Services Australia data, April 30, in to access your portfolio
RTÉ News
30-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
Mortgage approvals continued to grow in April as first-time buyer activity reached new highs – latest figures from BPFI
There were 2,922 first-time buyer (FTB) approvals valued at almost €1 billion (€965m) in April, according to the latest figures from the Banking and Payments Federation of Ireland's Mortgage Approvals Report. The report shows the highest April FTB levels since the data series began in 2011. The number of mortgages approved rose by 4.7% month-on-month and by 5.8% compared with the same period last year. 31,853 FTB mortgages valued at almost €10 billion (€9,999m) were approved in the twelve months ending April 2025, the highest activity levels since the data series began. Commenting on the publication of the latest data, BPFI Chief Executive Brian Hayes said: "The latest mortgage figures show continued growth in approvals in April 2025, with volumes up by 5.8% year on year and values up 13.6% over the same period." "We can see from today's figures that lenders are supporting more and more FTBs, which points to a healthy pipeline for lending in the coming months," he said. "However, FTB housing demand is also growing, as evidenced by the 14,554 applications for Help to Buy in the first three months of 2025. This is up from 9,991 in the same period of 2024," said Mr Hayes.
