[Linux-aus] Australian Federal Budget - software depreciation

[Marco Ostini]

Greetings all,

So Last night the Australian Federal Budget was released, the first from a 
new Federal Government in a while.

The First Budget of a new government is usually where they attempt to make 
their mark and be bold. It was one of our best chances to get FOSS 
integrated into Australian governance, but so far I can see no real 
evidence of that, despite the submission LA made.

After reflection that's not too surprising, as there has been minimal one 
on one contact with the Federal Treasurer. This measure is normally highly 
desirable in concert with submissions, to communicate a specific message 
through to the decision making process.

After reading the Australian Budget documents last night I came across this 
interesting detail.

Within 'Revenue Measures' Under the title of 'Capital gains tax' there's 
the option of 'Depreciation of computer software'. Worth a substantial 
quantity of money, It's specifically forecasted as:

$m	2008-09 	15.0
$m	2009-10 	300.0
$m	2010-11 	681.0
$m	2011-12 	318.0
  	 	 	
That's 1.3 Billion forecasted in the next 4 years.

You'll find the document here:
http://www.aph.gov.au/budget/2008-09/content/bp2/html/revenue-01.htm

If I'm reading this correctly, the Government expects to make about 1.3 
Billion on 'Depreciation of computer software'.(???) Could anyone who 
understands this better than I explain it to the list?

As for influencing the Federal Government to use and include FOSS, we need 
to persistently continue in this endeavour.

Cheers,
Marco
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