David Leyonhjelm, lead candidate for the Liberal Democrats, today announced he will push to slash $2 billion from payroll tax in NSW if successful in winning the balance of power at the NSW election.
"Payroll tax is literally a tax on jobs. Payroll tax duplicates the Commonwealth's pay-as-you-go income tax. And because of its design, payroll tax discourages small employers from becoming large employers. It's a tax that needs to be cut."
"Payroll tax in NSW currently rakes in a whopping $10 billion each year."
"Payroll tax in NSW is high compared to the rest of the nation: $1,230 per person compared to $1,070 per person."
NSW's payroll tax rate of 5.45 per cent is higher than the rate in Victoria, Queensland and South Australia. It is in line with the rate in Western Australia and below the rate in Tasmania.
"Cutting the rate in NSW by a fifth, from 5.45 per cent to 4.35 per cent, would reduce NSW's rate to below all current rates in the federation except that applying in regional Victoria."
"I don't want my home state to continue to be a high tax state. We deserve to be a low tax state."
The Liberal Democrats' plan to slash payroll tax is part of a fully-costed alternative budget, to be published later this month. The alternative budget involves each State delivering budget surpluses and significant cuts to taxes and government spending.
