Stage three tax cuts slammed for turbocharging inequality and gender pay gap
The Government is under fire for continuing to support tax cuts for the rich and “billionaires” and is being accused of turbocharging “inequality”.
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The richest 1 per cent of Australians, and men in particular, will get as much benefit from the stage three tax cuts as the poorest 65 per cent combined, shocking new analysis has revealed.
There have been repeated calls for the Government to repeal the tax cuts for the rich that will deliver a worker on $200,000 a year a whopping $9000 tax cut.
The controversial $243 billion program would deliver tax cuts to “billionaires and the wealthy” and “will turbocharge inequality and widen the gender pay gap,” according to Greens leader Adam Bandt.
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People on incomes over $180,000 would receive a massive $117.6 billion in lower taxes but for those earning $60,000, it would deliver just $2.7 billion.
Meanwhile, those earning below $45,000 would get no benefit, the analysis found, while the top 1 per cent would get a $1.4 billion tax cut – the same amount given to the lowest-earning 65 per cent combined.
The tax cuts would also see men take home nearly two-thirds of the benefit of the stage three tax plan between 2024-25 and 2032-33, projected a parliamentary budget office analysis commissioned by the Greens.
It also found that men would receive a staggering $160.6 billion worth of the tax cuts compared to just $82.9 billion for women.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed on Monday that the tax changes would remain, insisting that he had “inherited” the former Morrison government’s legislated tax cuts.
The stage three cuts create a flat tax rate of 30 cents in the dollar for anyone earning between $40,000 and $200,000.
According to the Australia Institute, a registered nurse on $72,235 will get a tax cut of $681 under the changes while a politician, on a base salary of $211,250, will get a tax cut of $9075.
Economists have warned that the changes would make the tax system far less progressive by abolishing the 37 per cent tax bracket, lowering the 35 per cent bracket to 32.5 per cent, and increasing the top tax bracket to start at $200,000 rather than $180,000.
The parliamentary analysis examined how the tax changes would play out over the next decade.
It found by 2033, the top 1 per cent of earners would get $14.3 billion in reduced taxes, and the top 20 per cent of earners would get nearly $188 billion of benefit, more than 77 per cent of the total package.
The Greens have campaigned to have the stage three cuts repealed, calling for the money to be spent on services such as expanding Medicare and affordable housing, while independent Senators Jacqui Lambie, Tammy Tyrrell and David Pocock also backed shelving the plans.
Mr Bandt has also called on the Labor government to rethink its support of the “regressive” tax cuts introduced by the Coalition and said he would discuss them at the jobs summit this week.
“This week’s jobs summit must reconsider the stage three tax cuts for the wealthy, or everyday workers will fall further behind,” he said.
“Labor’s stage three tax cuts cost a fortune, and the wealthiest 20 per cent get close to 80 per cent of the money.
“Labor’s jobs summit and the October budget must deliver cost-of-living relief for everyday people now – axing the tax cuts for billionaires and funding dental into Medicare, free childcare and affordable housing instead.”
Originally published as Stage three tax cuts slammed for turbocharging inequality and gender pay gap
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