Ditch tax cut for rich Aussies
Paying more is popular
ALMOST twice as many Australians want stage 3 income tax cuts scrapped as those who want to keep them, a new survey suggests.
An Australia Institute poll found 41 per cent of people support the Albanese government repealing the tax cuts, compared with 22 per cent who are opposed.
The progressive think tank enlisted pollster Dyanata to conduct a “nationally representative” online survey of 1409 voters over three days in early September.
Nearly half – 46 per cent – of those surveyed identified that the cuts would benefit high-income earners the most.
Forty-three per cent of respondents who identified as Labor voters supported the cuts being ditched.
The cuts are the third in a series introduced by the former Coalition government, after the first two offered targeted tax relief to low and middle income taxpayers.
The Labor government has come under political pressure to backflip on its election commitment to keep the stage 3 cuts, given the economic storm gripping the country.
The cuts will kick in from July 2024 and abolish the 38 per cent tax bracket, meaning the entire amount between $45,000 and $200,000 will be taxed at 30 per cent. It means about 95 per cent of Australians will face a marginal tax rate of no more than 30 per cent, as well as the 2 per cent Medicare levy.
Critics say the stage 3 cuts, which will cost the federal budget more than $20bn a year and an estimated $243bn over a decade, are neither affordable nor equitable.
The Australia Institute’s poll found 61 per cent of Australians thought adapting economic policy to suit changing circumstances was more important than keeping an election promise.
Asked what they thought was better for the nation’s long-term interests, 60 per cent of the respondents chose “increased spending on government services like health and education”, compared with 15 per cent who selected proceeding with the tax cuts.
Of the respondents who identified as Greens voters, 54 per cent wanted the cuts scrapped, compared with 46 per cent of independent voters, 35 per cent of Coalition voters and 19 per cent of One Nation voters.
The Australia Institute executive director Richard Denniss said more than onethird of the survey’s respondents said they were still making up their minds. He said this “indicated the debate is there to be won or lost, based on the economic evidence and on what is fair”.
“Voters expect responsible management of the economy,” he said. “The fact is the economic conditions of 2022 and budget projections over the forward estimates are vastly different to when these tax cuts for high-income earners were first announced by Scott Morrison in 2018.”