Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm is confident the Coalition’s Personal Income Tax Plan Bill will pass in the Senate tomorrow but warns the package does not go far enough.
"This Bill does not make tax fair, but it does make our tax system slightly less unfair, even if it will take a painfully long time to kick in," Senator Leyonhjelm said.
"The Liberal Democrats have a fully costed and fully funded policy for a 20 per cent flat tax rate that would leave all taxpayers better off.
"With more of our own earnings in our own pockets, we could decide how our money is best spent instead of the bureaucrats calling the shots.
"I am comfortable helping to pass this Bill, but I look forward to the day that I can pass a Bill that ends this disease of excessive taxation."
Under the amendments someone earning $120,000, for example, will pay $2,025 less tax in four years’ time. However, $32,407 will still be seized by the government every year - well in excess of the value such a taxpayer gets from the Government, Senator Leyonhjelm said.
According to recent Budget Estimates, the top 1 per cent of income earners in Australia pay 17 per cent of total income taxation. A further 65 per cent of total income tax is paid from those earning between $87,001 up to $180,000.
"This means that around 82 per cent of income tax in Australia is paid by fewer than 3 million people," Senator Leyonhjelm said.
"Until we reduce this excessive tax burden that Australians face every day, we are doomed to become a less appealing country in which to do business, and there will be less incentive for individual successful Australians to remain here."
A Labor amendment rejecting the third stage of the tax package scheduled for 2024 will go back to the House of Representatives tomorrow morning, where it is expected to be rejected.
Senator Leyonhjelm said he believed the government had the numbers in the Senate for the Bill to pass tomorrow. ---
