An estimated 3.4 million Australians with a taxable income between $48,000 and $90,000 will be affected as the low and middle-income tax offset (LMITO), worth $1080, finishes at the end of this financial year, says the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre. Originally part of stage 1 of the Coalition government’s Personal Income Tax Plan, the LMITO was introduced in the 2018-19 Federal Budget to reduce tax burdens for Australians with low and middle taxable income. At the time of its introduction, the government estimated that the scheme would help around 4.5 million Australian taxpayers who are eligible for the full LMITO of $1,080 and 5.6 million eligible for a partial LMITO. The program was scheduled to run until the end of the 2019/20 financial year but was extended as a COVID-19 stimulus measure in the last budget. Analysts at Bankwest Curtain believe that the removal of the LMITO will effectively cancel out the benefits …