Treasurer Frydenberg

Forklift dealers were among the winners when the government introduced its $20,000 instant asset write-off a few years ago. They will benefit even more from the extension of the measure to June 2020 and the increase to $30,000, which will cover a wider range of forklifts.

CPA Australia head of external affairs Paul Drum says the write-off allowed a business with a turnover of less than $10 million to claim an immediate deduction for a purchase. Significantly, the deduction will now be available to businesses with turnover of up to $50 million - or another 22,000 businesses.

While welcoming the measure, CPA Australia continues to push for the write-off to be made permanent, rather than extended budget to budget, to give business owners greater certainty when planning.

Also welcomed is the increased investment in infrastructure spending, to improve rail links and address road black spots, with the Treasurer naming several projects in major state capital cities and also rural and regional Australia.

The budget includes increasing the Urban Congestion Fund to $4 billion from $1 billion, to cut travel times in Australia’s rapidly growing cities.

It also promises $2.2 billion for roads, $1 billion to improve freight routes and access to ports, and $100 million for regional airports.