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The GST can be progressive: here's how

We should use Australia's digital payment system to give consumers at $7500 GST-free spending exemption from a bigger, non-regressive consumption tax.

Rosalind Dixon and Richard Holden

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As Australia marks the 20th anniversary of the goods and services tax, reform of the GST is back on the table. And not.

The Thodey review, like many reviews before, observes that Australia’s value-added tax is more efficient than other taxes such as stamp duty (perhaps the worst offender) and taxes on labour income. At 10 per cent and covering roughly half of all goods and services in the economy it is also much lower than value-added taxes in other advanced economies.

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Rosalind Dixon is a professor of law and director of the Gilbert+ Tobin Centre of Public Law at UNSW Sydney, and director of the Pathways to Politics Program for Women NSW.
Richard Holden is Scientia Professor of Economics at UNSW Business School. Connect with Richard on Twitter.

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    Original URL: https://www.afr.com/wealth/tax/the-gst-can-be-progressive-here-s-how-20200707-p559ph