Australians Hit Hard By Indirect Taxes

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

21 October 2003

The Australian Daily Telegraph has delivered a damning assessment of the country's indirect taxation system, claiming that the average Australian coughed up AU$6,550 in GST and other 'stealth taxes' at federal and state level last year.

According to the figures cited by the paper, this amount rose to as much as AU$30,000 in GST payments for more affluent taxpayers. This, combined with taxes collected through a variety of other levies, including tax on cigarettes, alcohol, cars, gambling and insurance policies, netted the government some AU$65.5 billion in the last financial year.

Citing a study undertaken by the National Tax and Accountants' Association, the Telegraph reveals that for an employee earning AU$45,000 per year, a relatively modest amount, as much as one third is taken in GST, income tax and other levies. For someone earning AU$75,000, this rises to 42%, or nearly AU$31,000 in taxation.

"This analysis shows beyond most doubt, that the Howard Government's massive Budget surplus has largely been funded by Australian taxpayers and not corporate taxpayers, as claimed by the Treasurer," NTAA senior tax manager Andrew Gardiner argued.

Statistics show that individual taxpayers contributed AU$91.3 billion in income tax in the 2002/2003 tax year, against AU$33.3 billion from cororate income tax.

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