The Price....or Cost...of a Cwlth Surplus
Posted: Tue Nov 29, 2011 12:16 pmWell, Federal Labor must by now officially have all its eggs in one basket. A return to a surplus.
They have spent the past 4 years redistributing wealth, applying tax increases and imposing levies (floods), excise (tobacco and alcopops) and thresholds ($150k for singles, couples and families) and notwithstanding the $16bn surplus they inherited and the impact of the GFC, they still cant get there....not at least without circling the wagons, lassoing the horses and shuffling the deck chairs at every possible opportunity to ensure they do it.
Their political credibility is apparently all based on getting to a surplus position. Yet at what cost?
Even SA's new Premier has said he is not wedded to keeping a AAA credit rating if it compromises the future priorities of the state or its communities. Yet Federal Labor is now seemingly wedded to a surplus at all costs, no matter what the cost. If the GFC has been that bad, and Australia has weathered it better than (almost) any other country in the world, then why dont they just defer the surplus projection? Surely that would be in the National interest, not solely just the political interest?
The latest announcements today are as follows:
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/tax/20111129-wayne-swan-s-surplus-saving-mini-budget-10-key-points.html
Tax measures already announced/implemented include
1. Alcopops tax.
2. New tax on Australians working overseas.
3. Cutting what Australians can put into superannuation tax-free.
4. Restrictions on business losses.
5. Changes to Employee Share Scheme.
6. Cigarette tax hike of 25%.
7. The Mining tax.
8. Ethanol taxation increases.
9. LPG excise increase.
10. Tightening restrictions on medical expenses before you can claim them on tax.
11. Increase in luxury car tax.
12. Flood Levy (tax).
13. Tax increase on company cars.
14. Abolition of Entrepreneurs’ Tax Offset.
15. Phasing out of Dependent Spouse Tax Offset.
16. Disallowance of deductions against government assistance payments.
17. Removing minors’ eligibility for the low income tax offset on unearned income.
18. Deferral of Tax Breaks for Green Buildings.
19. Carbon tax.
20. Tobacco Excise increased
I haven't bothered to detail all the $150k threshold items, nor have I factored in the likely abolition of the health insurance rebate.
If the total tax take for Govt has gone down, then surely that reflects that people and businesses are not making as much in gross terms. Yet the solution to get a surplus is to tax them even more - to the sole benefit of the current govt? This has a ring of the Sheriff of Nottingham about it...
They have spent the past 4 years redistributing wealth, applying tax increases and imposing levies (floods), excise (tobacco and alcopops) and thresholds ($150k for singles, couples and families) and notwithstanding the $16bn surplus they inherited and the impact of the GFC, they still cant get there....not at least without circling the wagons, lassoing the horses and shuffling the deck chairs at every possible opportunity to ensure they do it.
Their political credibility is apparently all based on getting to a surplus position. Yet at what cost?
Even SA's new Premier has said he is not wedded to keeping a AAA credit rating if it compromises the future priorities of the state or its communities. Yet Federal Labor is now seemingly wedded to a surplus at all costs, no matter what the cost. If the GFC has been that bad, and Australia has weathered it better than (almost) any other country in the world, then why dont they just defer the surplus projection? Surely that would be in the National interest, not solely just the political interest?
The latest announcements today are as follows:
http://www.smartcompany.com.au/tax/20111129-wayne-swan-s-surplus-saving-mini-budget-10-key-points.html
Tax measures already announced/implemented include
1. Alcopops tax.
2. New tax on Australians working overseas.
3. Cutting what Australians can put into superannuation tax-free.
4. Restrictions on business losses.
5. Changes to Employee Share Scheme.
6. Cigarette tax hike of 25%.
7. The Mining tax.
8. Ethanol taxation increases.
9. LPG excise increase.
10. Tightening restrictions on medical expenses before you can claim them on tax.
11. Increase in luxury car tax.
12. Flood Levy (tax).
13. Tax increase on company cars.
14. Abolition of Entrepreneurs’ Tax Offset.
15. Phasing out of Dependent Spouse Tax Offset.
16. Disallowance of deductions against government assistance payments.
17. Removing minors’ eligibility for the low income tax offset on unearned income.
18. Deferral of Tax Breaks for Green Buildings.
19. Carbon tax.
20. Tobacco Excise increased
I haven't bothered to detail all the $150k threshold items, nor have I factored in the likely abolition of the health insurance rebate.
If the total tax take for Govt has gone down, then surely that reflects that people and businesses are not making as much in gross terms. Yet the solution to get a surplus is to tax them even more - to the sole benefit of the current govt? This has a ring of the Sheriff of Nottingham about it...
