How to fund income tax cuts

Advertisement

Over the weekend, veteran budget watcher Chris Richardson published a stinging critique of Australia’s “third world” tax system, which punishes workers and collects too little tax from efficient sources.

“Australia may be a first-world nation, but we increasingly have a third-rate tax system”, Richardson wrote. “It last got a spit and polish a quarter of a century ago, with the subsequent neglect leaving it ever more reliant on a handful of increasingly damaging taxes”.

Personal and company tax revenue

“The official figures say the tax take will leap, and they do so by assuming there won’t be another personal tax cut in the next decade. That means bracket creep will get decidedly creepy, with average full-time wages busting into the 37 cent tax bracket halfway through the coming decade”, Richardson wrote.

Advertisement

The full text of this article is available to MacroBusiness subscribers

$1 for your first month, then:
Cancel at any time through our billing provider, Stripe
About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.