Potentially unaffordable, and it still won't fix bracket creep. The Coalition's $300 billion tax plan assessed
- Written by Danielle Wood, Program Director, Budget Policy and Institutional Reform, Grattan Institute
The big surprise in last week’s budget was the size of new income tax cuts – A$158 billion[1] over a decade, in addition to the A$144 billion already promised[2] in last year’s budget.
A lot of the plan doesn’t take effect until 2024-25, so it’s easy to dismiss[3] as tax cuts on the never-never. But given it’s a central plank of the government’s campaign for re-election, it deserves closer scrutiny.
References
- ^ A$158 billion (www.budget.gov.au)
- ^ A$144 billion already promised (static.treasury.gov.au)
- ^ easy to dismiss (theconversation.com)
- ^ Grattan Institute (grattan.edu.au)
- ^ 2019 Budget infographic (budget.gov.au)
- ^ into higher tax brackets (theconversation.com)
- ^ NATSEM: federal budget will widen gap between rich and poor (theconversation.com)
- ^ Grattan Institute (grattan.edu.au)
- ^ huge reform (www.afr.com)
- ^ Mothers have little to show for extra days of work under new tax changes (theconversation.com)
- ^ Henry Tax Review (taxreview.treasury.gov.au)
- ^ 23.6% by 2029-30 (www.budget.gov.au)
- ^ Parliamentary Budget Office (www.aph.gov.au)
- ^ Expect a budget that breaks the intergenerational bargain, like the one before it, and before that (theconversation.com)
- ^ What will the Coalition be remembered for on tax? Tinkering, blunders and lost opportunities (theconversation.com)
Authors: Danielle Wood, Program Director, Budget Policy and Institutional Reform, Grattan Institute