Great article, Steve. I remember reading a related, insane statistic many years ago that something like 80% of the taxes in Australia cost more to administer than they collect in revenue. So the government COULD slash taxes, slash red tape, lower prices, reduce inflation, increase productivity AND improve government's own financial position, all by axing these ridiculous taxes. But they will not.
Don't forget water taxes. For example, SA Water’s Annual Reports shows an average of around $300m pa is paid to the SA State government in ‘dividends’. That’s over $3bn in profits made by SA Water paid to the State Govt over the past 10 years.
The 'dividends' tax is not disguised at all. It is a straight out transfer of funds from SA Water to the State Government. Electricity taxes have also been introduced under the guise of 'privatization'. For example, again in SA, the government sold the SA Electricity Trust at a massively inflated (above market) price in exchange for a guaranteed return and approval for the new owner to increase electricity charges and fees. The high prices we now pay are just taxes the government received upfront at the time of the sale.
And this is just the 'direct' taxes, fees, charges, levys etc. Then we need to factor in the massively increased costs from ridiculous government decisions in energy, (lack of) productivity, compliance, etc.
We don't have a 'cost of living' crisis in Australia, we have a cost of government crisis.
Topher Field just published this video about the cost of houses in Australia being 80% tax. https://youtu.be/2KCFTinZd4M?si=JyEEvRz5sL4WDEvW
Great article, Steve. I remember reading a related, insane statistic many years ago that something like 80% of the taxes in Australia cost more to administer than they collect in revenue. So the government COULD slash taxes, slash red tape, lower prices, reduce inflation, increase productivity AND improve government's own financial position, all by axing these ridiculous taxes. But they will not.
Yes, it's ridiculous that the Henry Tax Review has been sitting on a shelf for 15 years!
It's more ridiculous the final report said there were 125 taxes, but didn't list them.
Great debut article Steve! Tax transparency would be a good start.
Here's The Long, Long, Long, Long List of Taxes I compiled in 2022. Read and weep!
https://www.libertyitch.com/p/the-long-long-long-long-list-of-taxes
Bob Day
Don't forget water taxes. For example, SA Water’s Annual Reports shows an average of around $300m pa is paid to the SA State government in ‘dividends’. That’s over $3bn in profits made by SA Water paid to the State Govt over the past 10 years.
Absolutely! Often disguised as connection charges or service fees.
Bob Day.
The 'dividends' tax is not disguised at all. It is a straight out transfer of funds from SA Water to the State Government. Electricity taxes have also been introduced under the guise of 'privatization'. For example, again in SA, the government sold the SA Electricity Trust at a massively inflated (above market) price in exchange for a guaranteed return and approval for the new owner to increase electricity charges and fees. The high prices we now pay are just taxes the government received upfront at the time of the sale.
And this is just the 'direct' taxes, fees, charges, levys etc. Then we need to factor in the massively increased costs from ridiculous government decisions in energy, (lack of) productivity, compliance, etc.
We don't have a 'cost of living' crisis in Australia, we have a cost of government crisis.