Victoria the highest taxed state in Australia, according to Institute of Public Affairs scorecard
The Allan government leads the country in taxing its residents and clocking up the highest debts of any state, new analysis finds.
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Victoria is the highest-taxed state in the country, according to damning new analysis by an Australian think tank.
The Institute of Public Affairs has released its official annual scorecard, ranking the states on economic indicators, placing Victoria as the second lowest on the list due to its poor performance on tax burdens and eye-watering debts.
As a percentage of gross state product, Victoria lead all the states with Victorian taxes now making up 6.08 per cent.
This was higher than NSW 5.43 per cent, Queensland 4.44 per cent, South Australia 4.42 per cent, Tasmania 4.22 per cent and Tasmania 2.99 per cent.
The damning assessment comes as the state attempts to introduce more taxes.
It’s currently hustling the expanded Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund levy through state parliament in the bid to rake in an additional $2 billion in taxes from property owners over the next four years from July 1.
After Treasurer Jaclyn Symes introduced the new tax to parliament it was revealed landlords would bear the brunt, which she defended saying they “generally (have a) higher capacity to pay”.
“There is less impost on the lower level homes and more on those that can afford to pay more, such as commercial properties and investment properties,” she said.
It also comes after the Victorian Government was the first to introduce a short-stay accommodation tax.
From January 1 a new 7.5 per cent tax must be slapped on Airbnbs. They also hiked land taxes and payroll taxes in 2023 to help repay the Covid debt.
When it came to state debts Victoria also rated the worst.
The report showed that Victoria’s percentage ration of GSP for debt was a whopping 22 per cent.
This was almost double the debt burden of South Australia which sat at 13 per cent.
This followed NSW 11.4 per cent, Tasmania 8 per cent, Western Australia 4.3 per cent and Queensland 1.1 per cent.
The Allan Government is also continuing to hurtle toward record debt levels with the latest budget update showing they had spent $3.36 billion more than anticipated.
Even though they had received $1.97 billion more in revenue and rebates net debt grew to $146.8bn.
It is expected the state has also blown its forecast $187.8bn debt level for 2028.
Lachlan Clark, Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, said that Victoria needed to do more to improve its ranking “through smart policy — such as cutting red tape to unleash prosperity.”
“There is no escaping the fact that Victoria is an economic basket case; however, the scorecard recognises that government energy subsidies have temporarily lowered the cost burden for Victorian businesses. But subsidies are not sustainable long-term.”
“The long-term future of Victoria’s economic health is inextricably tied to the need for economic reform, particularly cleaning up the state’s bottom line.”
Victoria also scored low on jobs growth productivity but faired better on energy costs, rental costs and business investment.
Opposition Treasurer James Newbury said:the Premier Jacinta Allan “has become a professional at putting her hand into the pocket of every Victorian and taking their money.
“Not only do we pay more taxes than any other State, but Labor delivers worse services than every other State.”
A state government spokesperson said: “This is cherry-picked analysis from a Liberal Party-aligned think tank.”
“We are already slashing red tape for businesses and generating more private investment.”
Originally published as Victoria the highest taxed state in Australia, according to Institute of Public Affairs scorecard
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