AusFinance

• In short: The federal government says it is prepared to ban debit card surcharges from January 1, 2026, subject to a review underway by the Reserve Bank.

• It is unclear how much Australians pay in debit card surcharges each year, but Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones says "it punches a big hole in your wallet" when they are added up.

• What's next? As the RBA continues its review, the government says it is sending a warning to the banks and payment services providers that unless they stop charging "excessive" surcharges, the government will crack down.

I knew their fees were a little on the high side for US stuff, but my god, the FX rate itself is fucking horrible.

Right now the mid-market rate per Wise is 1.501.

At the same time, SW's FX rate is 1.470.

So the total cost of USD -> AUD FX is really not actually just the 0.60% from FX fees, but more like ~2% due to the terrible FX rate (plus maybe the 0.6% on top of that if the listed FX rate isn't counting that).

There's a hefty $110 AUD fee for transfering non-AU securities out of SW, but given their atrocious FX rate it might actually be cheaper to eat that fee (buying something stable like a cash/bonds ETF so that it can be sold somewhere else) than be subject to their conversion rate.

I am actually shocked at how bad this is!?

Any thoughts on doing so if you have ?

The Australian Taxation Office says Australia's controversial sovereign citizen movement has used tax time to spread misinformation about taxes, including the claim "lodging is voluntary".

The ABC understands the authority is investigating complaints about one woman from Queensland, who claims she is a "spiritual accountant" and is allegedly advising people on how to avoid taxes.

Morgan Stanley estimates that data centres are currently using 5 per cent (1,050 MW) of the electricity on Australia's power grid and that is expected to grow to 8 per cent (2,500 MW) by 2030.

Some estimates even suggest they could require up to 15 per cent of the power on the grid by then.

"I appreciate there is definitely going to be property owners in high-rises that will be frustrated ... but the premise that a person living in a $2 million, $3 million, $5 million penthouse should pay exactly the same rates on the ground floor unit isn't a fair model," he said.

What a read. Interesting how no one has been charged on The Philippines.:(

So 4% huh.. Bullock will look the stooge if she does't raise again surely. I bet Chlamers is on the blower now furiously twlling her what weasel world's to use explain why they must not..

That has traders at Morgan Stanley nervous, who suspect the August RBA meeting could see the national interest rate hiked further – not cut.

"It's an A-grade shit show," he said, not mincing words.

Rephrasing , the inevitable outcome of government and voters seeing housing as an investment and not a social need.

After watching a lot of Some More News and Climate Town, I made the shift from Hesta (which has $2,000,000,000 invested in fossil fuels, and most recently in the new Woodside gas plant) to Future Super.

Yes, the fees are significantly worse, but if I'm putting my own financial gain ahead of the planet, I'm no better than all the banks investing in fossil fuels.

For many people a tax refund is a much-anticipated lump sum of money.

So, it is understandable Australians will be looking for ways to maximise their returns – particularly we are in a cost-of-living crisis.

But, whether you do your own return or use a tax agent, taking risks is not advised.

Despite teetering on the edge of it, few economists are forecasting an Australian recession anytime soon. But there's one obvious threat missing from the commentary: panic.

Key info:

From 1 July

• New external payments from Save accounts will no longer be available. This includes direct debits, PayTo, BPay, and BSB & account payments from Save. See below for how to switch your existing payments.

• We’re introducing our new bonus interest tiers for your savings.

• We’re increasing the amount you need to deposit to qualify for bonus interest from $200 to $500.

Forgot to post this earlier. More discussion on OzBargain, among other places.

Aussie company that deals with PFAS contamination from industrial processes and the like. Good to see a different kind of company coming up in Australia.

the fuck did I just read (archived article from the AFR) :(

Original link

A growing number of property investors who have “tapped out” their personal borrowing capacity are using their self-managed super funds to borrow more, advisers say.

“Gianna and I already bought six properties in our personal names, so we’re already tapped out. We keep trying to make new headroom, so we can borrow more, but we keep hitting a new ceiling, so we decided to borrow within our super,” Mr Ciardi said.

The whole floors needs to be ripped apart and fix the drain pipe then tiles needs to be done. I am looking at 10k-15k to fix everything.

I am paying $2100/month for a house that I bought recently for $645k with 50% LVR.