True Josh, but alot of people will be already in the top tax bracket with their salary, and so the capital gains will be at the same rate, 47%, and anyway, if you hold your property for more than 1 year only half of the capital gain is taxed.
However i still would like to be in New Zealand, lol, no stamp duty, and no cap gains tax, those kiwi’s….., lol
Fudge111[
][]I doubt that the people who pay the highest marginal tax rates are necessarily those earning above $62501.
Instead they are most likely to be 1 or 1.5 income families earning somewhere between $20 and $40k PAYE especially where the children are teenagers.
There’s heaps of benefits that cut out, including concession public transport fares, health care cards, cheap pharmaceuticals, rent assistance, Austudy, the new superannuation top-up, etc.
I wouldn’t be surprised that when these are taken into account their effective marginal tax rates approach 80-100%.
Regards, Peter
Peterp, can u please elaborate further what you mean, i couldn’t quite grasp what you said?
[
][]Fudge111
So in other words all the benefits they receive are tax deductable, is this correct?
If so, then i still don’t understand the argument, they are getting benefits, it is like income, so what if you go into the higher bracket, they should be happy they are receiving benefits, that’s my view anyway.
Fudge111[
][]Hi,
I’m new here and was reading thriough my first topic and lo and behold I read a post that could have come directly off my keyboard. I agree with Monkey Magic that we chose to be poor just as surely as we choose to be rich and just because I work hard, save and invest my money why should I be taxed at a higher rate.
I believe the top tax rate should be closer to $100000. It really angers me that federal and state governments are in surplus yet we still must pay stamp duty and GST and land tax and rates that go up every year but our tax rates are altered by a few dollars only every five years or more.
Back to the point of rich and poor however I don’t wholly blame those who are poor as they don’t know any better. What should be done is financial freedom should be taught in schools from an early age and children should be taught to save and not rely on credit.
Remember “the Richest Man in Babylon” Why can’t Australia be the “Babylon” of the 21st Century. Just imagine the power we could be. We are already the “lucky country” why not the richest as well.
Sorry to write such a deep post but does anybody agree with me?[
]There are basically three types of people.
Those that do.
Those that watch and
the ones that say “what the hell was that”The talk of higher income earners having to pay more is a bit rough in my opinion. Why should they be punished because they want to work harder and/or smarter ?? [
]I think all overtime over your base salary should be taxed at no more than 20 to 25c in the dollar.
If this was the case i’d happily do a day or two of overtime each fortnight, but at the moment to pay 47c in the $ why would i bother ??Cheers,
Paul…“I want to be rich, and stupidly happy – so far i’ve only managed to achieve the stupid part…”
You make some great points domdom, but i am going to stick with my theory.
EVERYONE gets their first $6000 tax free
EVERYONE gets their next $15600 at 17%
EVERYONE gets their next $30,400 at 30%
EVERYONE gets their next $12,500 at 42%and therafter they are taxed at 47%, i mean, everyone gets a fair go, and 47% is high but it is still low enough too encourage people too continue making money.
If we had a flat rate of say 30% then imagine people earning 25000 a year, they would be so poor, and everyone who earns 100,000 would be so rich, we don’t need that in society.
Fudge111[
][][^]The tax rates are certainly a dis-incentive to earn more. Why should higher income earners contribute more income (above a certain threshold) than any other group. Maxing out at 30 would be far more palatable.
We are very highly taxed on income in Australia – there are some countries with higher rates, but not many. Even the US has a top rate in the 30’s.
Well, i spose you could max out at 30’s, but then there would be less for healthcare, roads, and everything else really.
We can’t take 47c in the dollar out of a poor person because they would not survive, but a high income earner you can.
I think the rich should just be happy they are well off and not be greedy
Fudge111
Hi all,
I am new to this forum. It is fascinating to read this forum and you have contributed a lot of good ideas and I have learned a lot.
About tax issue, I guess the government sometimes try to cut tax just to make them look good. But if you look at it closely, the tax cut has already eaten by inflation. So how about a fairer way of indexing the tax we paid based on inflation. The government know it is fair. But do they want to do it?
Breakfree
Domdom… interesting slant for your first post…
“we chose to be poor just as surely as we choose to be rich”
“I don’t wholly blame those who are poor as they don’t know any better.”
Two statements, two pieces of arrogance, and infuriating ones at that.
Monkey Magic, to suggest poor people drink, smoke and punt their way to poverty is a very ill conceived line of argument… far too simplistic. Individuals have individual circumstances… who know what drives an alcoholic to drink? There’s rich people with gambling problems too… Bit tough to judge a person on a newspaper photo isn’t it?
Not everyone has choices… I don’t know the backgrounds of either of you, but be thankful you’re in a position where you feel you can look down from your ivory tower on others you think are lesser beings. The world doesn’t start and finish with your individual financial goals… there’s bigger issues, and yes, I’d like to think that people haven’t totally stopped caring about the wider picture.
Fudge and Broz – “there would be less for healthcare, roads, and everything else really.
We can’t take 47c in the dollar out of a poor person because they would not survive, but a high income earner you can.
I think the rich should just be happy they are well off and not be greedy”
Well said…
Cheers
rWell, in my opinion the tax rates can stay the same % wise, as long as annual salaries inrease with inflation, the % rate of tax does not need to be touched at all.
Fudge111[
]
I think the rich should just be happy they are well off and not be greedyWho says those in the top tax bracket are rich ??
I’m certainly not !!Sorry but your thoughts seem a little too simplistic for my liking. Is it greedy for people to want to earn more ??
Let me give you a great example – A mate has three children with his wife. At the age of 30 she meets another guy through work and leaves her husband… He now gets slugged for child support (it’s not his fault she left, but hey, he’s paying for it) for the three kids and has to continue contributing towards the family home which he has been kicked out of…
He’s on 70k a year and is struggling…2 years later he meets a lovely woman and wants to get married and try again. Do you think he can afford to buy a house and have a family ?? No chance… Not for another 10 years when his kids have grown up and by then his new wife will be 38 years old – is that fair ??
Now he’s prepared to work 7 days a week or take a second job, whatever it takes to get ahead in life, so what does he get slugged ?? 47c in the $.
Now tell me that that is a fair and equitable tax system…
Cheers,
Paul…“I want to be rich, and stupidly happy – so far i’ve only managed to achieve the stupid part…”
FatBoy…
Perhaps in your mate’s case, it’s the family law system that needs looking at.Cheers
rIf you can’t live off 70k on your own allbeit with a little child support to pay, then you are one of those people who choose to be poor, if i were on that salary i wouldn’t be complaining at all, broz’s dad is on a very low salary, like 25,000 with 5 kids! and they still manage, anyway, sorry if that got a little personal
no hard feelings?
Fudge111[8D][
][]Who puts the values on people’s occuptaions?? For example, A refrigeration mechanic I know did 4 years study as an apprentice and has 25 years knowledge of whitegoods and airconditioning, he worked hard and was a service representative for several major companies and the most he was paid was $29,000. He left this to become a manager of an electrical retail store for $31,000.
I worked as an SSO in schools with teachers who studied for 4 years and earned $38,000 their first year out.
I’m hastening to add I’m not having a go at teachers, but I know other trades where the pay is low for equal amounts of study and I think it’s not just the tax rates that divide those that do well from those that don’t.
And I think peoples sense of self worth is very wrapped up in what they earn in comparison to their peers and relatives. Yes it boils down to choices but also to our abilities and personalities. For example some people love office work, while others prefer to be working outdoors. Why is one more “valuable” monetry wise than the other??
Anyway this SSO and her fridgy hubby are now happily managing a caravan park, and enjoying the lifestyle and freedom. Some would scoff at the combined $40,000 income, but we have health and happiness and are really excited at having just bought our first IP, and what the future holds.Just my 2c worth,
Diane[]richmond- wow :o) I wish i could get away with that, but as a non-moderator, I’d just get yelled at [
]I think a lot of wealth is inherited (I know some people on here will give me examples of when that is not the case- i’m aware that it is not the case in all situations- I just wanted to raise the notion here of inheritance, or lack of inheritance).
I don’t think rich people are smart and poor people are dumb. I also think we make choices- gee, we could have made a “killing” in buying shares for armaments when we knew there was going to be a war in Iraq. But buying shares to make money and knowing we made a profit from death, does not seem to me to be a hugely intelligent thing to do. Others might disagree :o)
Some of us are happy to earn an average wage- it’s enough for me to live on.
Fudge and Bro- sorry to have not completely answer your question. But I think you get my drift [
]I wonder how much money people feel they need to live on. When’s enough enough? Given that propert’s had such a boom, and there are now so many more millionaires, is there some higher level to aspire to? Or is being a millionaire enough of an aim still? Or is it in terms of IP’s these days and not a dollar figure? As in retiring with 30 IP’s or something?
kay henry
hehehe, well i just plucked a number out of thin air, my aim is 23 IP’s then that’s enough, lol
Fudge111[
]
If you can’t live off 70k on your own allbeit with a little child support to pay, then you are one of those people who choose to be poor, if i were on that salary i wouldn’t be complaining at allMate, i know this is going to sound harsh but you are kidding right ?? What do you know about paying child support ?? Do you actually know what percentage he is paying (hint, it’s before taxable income as well !!) of his wage ??
Plus a 245k mortgage ??
Plus the loan for a 2 year old car his ex wife is driving around in as decreed by the court ??Do the sums and get back to me – trust me the guy doesn’t drink, smoke or gamble and he is struggling… He was far from poor before, and doesn’t “choose” to be now… [
]richmond: Agreed 100% – But my point still stands. Because of his situation the guy NEEDS to work harder – the problem is that in order to do so and improve his quality of life he’s going to get slugged 47c in the $ and to me i can’t see how that is fair…
Cheers,
Paul…“I want to be rich, and stupidly happy – so far i’ve only managed to achieve the stupid part…”
Point taken Paul, i don’t want this to get personal,
Fudge111[
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