Somehow or other "tax" became a dirty word. Mostly because of people who benefitted from public education, roads, infrastructure, rail, even publicly funded airlines. Then some clever people decided that all those things could be funded by privatising them, making taxpayers pay, and pocketing the profits. That way a small number of people became very rich and taxpayers found we were paying for lots of things we took for granted. But getting very rich is really a product of not paying enough in the first place. Who is to determine how much of the privatised asset should go into the thing that has been privatised and how much should be the profit for the very rich.
The Australian Taxation system really does need a reset with a complete review.
The rich are able to pay high priced accounting firms for advice on how to minimise their income and or reduce their tax "obligations". The average income earners are not able to employ such firms!
The favourable tax on investment properties is also out of hand. The CGT and Negative Gearing options should be limited to only one or two investment properties.
The only exception should be investment properties available to those renters on low to medium incomes.
There are a hell of a lot of people in this country who think it's perfectly acceptable to game the system and minimise their tax. Others don't have the opportunity, or the inclination, to chase every last dollar they can squeeze out of the system. It's time to admit that if we want things as a society we have to pay taxes. We have to work together. The days of Thatcher's "there is no such thing as society" have gotten us into this mess.
And it’s not just the outrage that is so dispiriting… it’s all the other much more urgent, much more consequential issues you list that so many seem to be swiping left! I used to rail against Australia’s tall poppy syndrome… ideally, I used to advocate for equity at the tall poppy height… Let’s all be tall poppies, reach for the stars, be healthy, innovative, prosperous together, I’d say! Sigh. Now I want those tall poppies to be lopped. Please. Just a little humility. Just a little look sideways, outwards… notice what else is happening… care just a little for those who can’t reach the light, can’t breathe the air, can’t tap into the nutrients that equal distribution and care of resources could provide…
I think we can safely write off everything Murdoch, Fairfax and the ghost of the civil dead that is broadcast television says from now on for the next 3 years. Oh no, a bunch of soon to be unemployed flunkies are upset rich people might have to pay some tax, even though the really rich don't pay any tax most of the time if at all. And those same really rich people don't want to pay you much at all. ( Have you seen the journalists award lately? Even those byline photographs are looking kinda grim and taken at home with a phone) Considering online news seems to be unable to even be able to afford a decent AI typo checker, I don't think their outrage is really working ... Unless Labor start believing that their own press releases are actually meaningful and will do anything.
What annoys me most is the underlying assumption that Australia is a high-taxing country.
If you look at OECD comparative data on national total tax take (e.g. as a percentage of GDP) Australia is actually one of the lower taxing developed nations - only a little more than the US.
Yes, income tax is a higher percentage of total tax take than in many other countries, though, if you take into account separate and additional billing for social security in the US and several other countries, even that difference isn't very strong.
There is some evidence - though it's notoriously difficult to measure - that we get a very good return on investment, in terms of services delivered and quality of those services, for our tax dollars.
In short, oh people of Australia, STOP THE CHILDISH WHINGEING, we are doing very well in the tax game!
Somehow or other "tax" became a dirty word. Mostly because of people who benefitted from public education, roads, infrastructure, rail, even publicly funded airlines. Then some clever people decided that all those things could be funded by privatising them, making taxpayers pay, and pocketing the profits. That way a small number of people became very rich and taxpayers found we were paying for lots of things we took for granted. But getting very rich is really a product of not paying enough in the first place. Who is to determine how much of the privatised asset should go into the thing that has been privatised and how much should be the profit for the very rich.
It's a matter of fairness really.
It's about each of our obligations!
The Australian Taxation system really does need a reset with a complete review.
The rich are able to pay high priced accounting firms for advice on how to minimise their income and or reduce their tax "obligations". The average income earners are not able to employ such firms!
The favourable tax on investment properties is also out of hand. The CGT and Negative Gearing options should be limited to only one or two investment properties.
The only exception should be investment properties available to those renters on low to medium incomes.
It's all doable if there is a will to do it.
There are a hell of a lot of people in this country who think it's perfectly acceptable to game the system and minimise their tax. Others don't have the opportunity, or the inclination, to chase every last dollar they can squeeze out of the system. It's time to admit that if we want things as a society we have to pay taxes. We have to work together. The days of Thatcher's "there is no such thing as society" have gotten us into this mess.
And it’s not just the outrage that is so dispiriting… it’s all the other much more urgent, much more consequential issues you list that so many seem to be swiping left! I used to rail against Australia’s tall poppy syndrome… ideally, I used to advocate for equity at the tall poppy height… Let’s all be tall poppies, reach for the stars, be healthy, innovative, prosperous together, I’d say! Sigh. Now I want those tall poppies to be lopped. Please. Just a little humility. Just a little look sideways, outwards… notice what else is happening… care just a little for those who can’t reach the light, can’t breathe the air, can’t tap into the nutrients that equal distribution and care of resources could provide…
Is it time to Eat the Rich
Australia- A land of Fairness and Equity where no one is left behind, if you are rich or entitiled to start with.
I think we can safely write off everything Murdoch, Fairfax and the ghost of the civil dead that is broadcast television says from now on for the next 3 years. Oh no, a bunch of soon to be unemployed flunkies are upset rich people might have to pay some tax, even though the really rich don't pay any tax most of the time if at all. And those same really rich people don't want to pay you much at all. ( Have you seen the journalists award lately? Even those byline photographs are looking kinda grim and taken at home with a phone) Considering online news seems to be unable to even be able to afford a decent AI typo checker, I don't think their outrage is really working ... Unless Labor start believing that their own press releases are actually meaningful and will do anything.
They should count themselves lucky. In some countries they guillotined the rich.😉
What annoys me most is the underlying assumption that Australia is a high-taxing country.
If you look at OECD comparative data on national total tax take (e.g. as a percentage of GDP) Australia is actually one of the lower taxing developed nations - only a little more than the US.
Yes, income tax is a higher percentage of total tax take than in many other countries, though, if you take into account separate and additional billing for social security in the US and several other countries, even that difference isn't very strong.
There is some evidence - though it's notoriously difficult to measure - that we get a very good return on investment, in terms of services delivered and quality of those services, for our tax dollars.
In short, oh people of Australia, STOP THE CHILDISH WHINGEING, we are doing very well in the tax game!