Some of these measures involved low- and middle-income taxpayers, with those earning under $126,000 a year now set to receive a non-refundable tax offset of up to $1,080 per individual, or, $2,160 for dual income families, under the 2019-20 budget. More than 10 million taxpayers are set to benefit, Mr Frydenberg said.

In addition, Mr Frydenberg said the government will lower the 32.5 per cent tax rate to 30 per cent from 1 July 2024, covering all taxpayers earning between $45,000 and $200,000, noting that it means 94 per cent of taxpayers “will pay no more than 30 cents in the dollar”.

“Under the Morrison government, tax as a share of the economy will not rise above the 23.9 per cent cap,” he asserted.

“We will put a speed limit on taxes, while our opponents will put a speed limit on the economy.

“Mr Speaker, taxes will always be lower under the Coalition.”

Following the release of the budget, Gilbert + Tobin issued an analysis piece citing the tax implications to occur as a result of the Treasurer’s measures.

Speaking on behalf of G+T were partners, Muhunthan Kanagaratnam and Hanh Chau, consultant Julian Lian, and lawyers Tina Chen, Matthew Charman, Anna Belgiorno-Nettis and Fabian Di Lizia, who described last night’s delivery as “an electioneering budget”.

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“With the federal election widely expected to be approximately five weeks away, the [2019-20] federal budget is an electioneering budget, aimed favourably at individuals who vote. It is, if nothing else, predictable and not quite as ‘surprise-filled’ as Treasurer Frydenberg suggested,” the G+T representatives wrote.

“We have been peppered with leaks on the greater-than-expected tax revenue collections this year (thanks to rising commodity prices lifting the tax and royalty take from coal and iron ore exports), which are helping fund many of the tax breaks and expenditure proposals.

“So, it is no surprise that the budget is forecast to be in surplus for the first time in 12 years (albeit just 0.4 per cent of gross domestic product or $7.1 billion). The government also forecasts surpluses for the next nine years, although some commentators have already suggested this surplus may disappear by this time next year as the economy weakens.”

The G+T reps noted that although the voting public will “generally happily receive a tax cut, there continues to be a lack of leadership on tax reform”.

“There have been attempts to reduce the corporate tax rate with an increase in consumption tax rates, but all we have is an unnecessarily complicated two-tier corporate income tax rate system, one for certain companies with turnover of less than $50 million and another for those with turnover of $50 million or more,” they said.

“When one considers our growing ageing population (with increased welfare and infrastructure needs), there are growing expenditures on the horizon which need to be planned for. For example, $20 billion of revenue from fewer people in the workforce and $16 billion in welfare and aged care payments combine for a $36 billion cost over the next 10 years. We fear that shiny vote winning distractions are being tossed around without a steady eye on the future.

“Further, the changes to personal tax rates in this budget are relatively small – much of the major work had already been done in the previous budget. Apart from some tinkering, the [2019-20] budget is retelling the story of tax cuts already announced and legislated from the [2018-19] budget. Cynics would again point to the forthcoming election.”