So much respect for Jericho, he never stops fighting for us.
This is another brilliant, well laid out article. I’m happy to pay the Guardian for this.
In case you’re unaware, he runs an excellent Australian economics podcast called Dollars and Sense.
I was unaware, thank you
I could tell this was a Greg Jericho article just from the title.
No surprises there though, it is designed by the wealthy
Please God I would do anything for a politician’s income to be capped at median wage.
This article didn’t outline which parts of the tax system it thinks benefits the rich unfairly. We have a very progressive tax system. Top earners pay 47% tax on their top earnings, plus GST of everything they buy, plus land tax, rates, etc and extra taxes on luxury cars, fuel, etc. Plus there’s div 293, and 2-3% inflation each year. Well more that 50% of the marginal earnings are paid in tax.
I used to be in the top tax bracket, and now I’m in the bottom tax bracket. So I’ve seen both sides.
Discounted CGT and negative gearing come to mind…
Negative gearing should definitely be limited. Maybe 1 property of X dollars per year.
CGT discount is meant to account for inflation. They could change it to be dynamic based on inflation rate each year, but it’s always a balance between simplicity and perfection. People complain when the tax system is too complex and they can’t do their own taxes.
Note that all costs are deducted before CGT discount is applied, which makes it fairer.
Same as Canada. In 1972, we somehow decided that wealthy people should pay 50% less tax by removing income tax from capitals gains.
Then by the 80s we we needed a GST while the wealthy moved assets to offshore accounts.
Of course it is.
Corporations offshore profits to tax havens to avoid paying too much tax.
Wealthy individuals mostly make money from investments rather than salary and pay discounted CGT instead of income tax on most of their money
The middle class and poor get to pay more to make up for this nonsense.
