All buit too true. this article sums it up. Society whinges about rascism sexism etc. What about us singles? We cop the highest taxes. Perhaps the government is discriminating against us.
Singles the biggest losers: tax report
By Josh Gordon
March 30, 2006
AUSTRALIANS are paying record federal and state government taxes, with a growing share of the burden carried by childless workers as families prosper.
A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development highlights the extent to which the Federal Government's tax system is distorting work incentives and churning billions of dollars of revenue back to families with children.
The report's data has already been included in the Government's high-profile review of the tax system, which Treasurer Peter Costello is due to deliver on Monday.
Sources close to the review have told The Age it will
give ammunition to those call- ing for reform, although it will not make specific recommendations on how to improve the system.
The OECD report found that last year income tax soaked up almost a quarter of the gross wage of an average earner with no children, up from 22.7 per cent in 2001.
In contrast, a typical single-income married couple with two children paid an average of 16 per cent of their wages in income tax after factoring in payments under the family tax benefit system. Five years earlier, the same family was paying out almost 23 per cent of earnings in income tax.
A separate report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that federal and state tax revenue hit a record 32.3 per cent of GDP last financial year, compared to 30.5 per cent in 2001-02.
Mr Costello said yesterday that Australia's tax to GDP ratio was the eighth lowest in the OECD, while the Government spending to GDP ratio was the second lowest, now lower than the US.
"Many … countries spend more and tax less because they run huge budget deficits," he said. "It's just sending (the) tax burden to the next generation."
The OECD report also says Australia has some of the worst work incentives in the developed world.
A single-income family with two children living on an average wage effectively loses 52 cents in every extra dollar earned in tax and reduced benefits, far above the OECD average loss of 37 cents in the dollar.
Singles the biggest losers: tax report
By Josh Gordon
March 30, 2006
AUSTRALIANS are paying record federal and state government taxes, with a growing share of the burden carried by childless workers as families prosper.
A report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development highlights the extent to which the Federal Government's tax system is distorting work incentives and churning billions of dollars of revenue back to families with children.
The report's data has already been included in the Government's high-profile review of the tax system, which Treasurer Peter Costello is due to deliver on Monday.
Sources close to the review have told The Age it will
give ammunition to those call- ing for reform, although it will not make specific recommendations on how to improve the system.
The OECD report found that last year income tax soaked up almost a quarter of the gross wage of an average earner with no children, up from 22.7 per cent in 2001.
In contrast, a typical single-income married couple with two children paid an average of 16 per cent of their wages in income tax after factoring in payments under the family tax benefit system. Five years earlier, the same family was paying out almost 23 per cent of earnings in income tax.
A separate report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed that federal and state tax revenue hit a record 32.3 per cent of GDP last financial year, compared to 30.5 per cent in 2001-02.
Mr Costello said yesterday that Australia's tax to GDP ratio was the eighth lowest in the OECD, while the Government spending to GDP ratio was the second lowest, now lower than the US.
"Many … countries spend more and tax less because they run huge budget deficits," he said. "It's just sending (the) tax burden to the next generation."
The OECD report also says Australia has some of the worst work incentives in the developed world.
A single-income family with two children living on an average wage effectively loses 52 cents in every extra dollar earned in tax and reduced benefits, far above the OECD average loss of 37 cents in the dollar.
