Many treasurers have, over the years, claimed that simply reducing tax rates or increasing thresholds was some sort of policy achievement up there with floating the dollar or giving the Reserve Bank its independence from political control.
Over that period, the number of people earning more than $180,000 has trebled. They pay 40 per cent of the country’s personal income tax, almost double the share of 2008.The average tax rate has hit a 25-year high with a rapid increase over the past two years in part due to the way the now defunct low and middle-income tax offset operated.
It’s not just personal income tax. Taxes on superannuation, on companies, on finite resources and even on alcohol and tobacco are groaning under years of tinkering and short-termism.