Because the threshold for the Medicare levy exemption is based on family income, the reform will reinforce the move towards higher effective tax rates on low income second earners in a family.
Joe Castro/AAP
With its recent budget changes, the government is proposing a rise in marginal tax rates across a wide band of middle incomes and a marginal tax rate cut for the top.
Gender income inequality in Australia is now considerably above the OECD average of 15.5%.
rochelle hartman/Flickr
Oxfam’s efforts to find solutions to the world’s inequalities are welcome but its wrongful use of “human economy” and repackaging it as a concept from high up might do more harm than good.
The treasurer referred to the A$13 billion “zombie” measures the Senate has failed to pass as a “Senate tax”, in justifying the tax increases in this budget.
Lukas Coch
The budget was extraordinary in many ways. It is an abandonment of restraint on taxes by a liberal government. It is nakedly populist and it also acknowledges that government debt can be productive.
With the 2017 Federal Budget release fast approaching, take a look back at the spending patterns of previous Australian governments.
Lukas Coch/Alan Porritt/Dean Lewins/AAP
Total government spending has increased over time. But the pressure on the budget under a Turnbull government is more acute now than ever before, because spending is outpacing revenue.
The political legacy of Abbott’s broken promises contributed to Malcolm Turnbull’s near-death experience at last July’s federal election. ThisTurnbull government budget will be largely about burying the legacy of its predecessor.
The poll asked whether forecasting for the budget should be taken away from Treasury and be given to another independent agency.
Lukas Coch/AAP
Polled economists say another independent body wouldn’t necessairly do a better job of economic forecasting for the budget than Treasury.
If wages just grow at the rate of the last 12 months, rather than at the higher growth in the budget forecasts, income tax collections will be A$7 billion less for 2019-20.
Joel Carrett/AAP
Videos of a United passenger being involuntarily dragged off a plane went viral, creating a PR disaster for the company – one that could have easily been avoided.
Alabama’s lethal injection chamber at Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, 2002.
AP Photo/Dave Martin
Would a chance to win a big cash prize make you more likely to recycle your old drinks bottles? Economic analysis suggests so.
Many of the economists argued that the principle of the CGT discount is not a bad policy, however the level of the discount is generous and is open for abuse.
Lukas Coch/AAP
The Economics Society of Australia (ESA) Monash Forum polled economists on whether capital gains tax deductions for housing investment should be removed.
Increasing inequality, environmental degradation, financial instability – it’s clear the current system is broken.
Despite all the proposals to combat housing affordability, Scott Morrison will need to make hard political decisions on policies that will actually make a difference.
Lukas Coch/AAP