Bad Tax Breaks & Subsidies
Many tax breaks & subsidies are clearly anti-environment, regressive or both.- FBT on Company Cars. FBT exemptions on company cars and car spaces promote excessive vehicle usage. All 'benefits' received in the course of employment should be counted as normal income and taxed at the appropriate rate.
- Family Trust Loopholes.
- Super Tax Breaks for High Income Earners These should be replaced by allowing all pensioners to access the aged pension - which would be substantially cheaper than providing this tax break. (See this article.)
- Diesel fuel rebates. This benefit flows primarily to resource companies with little need for extra tax-breaks. Even if they did need a tax break it should not be one that promotes fossil-fuel usage. This rebate should be abolished.
- Negative Gearing and CGT discounts. These tax breaks have led to a speculative housing bubble that has priced many first home-buyers out of the market. Income from one stream (income) should not be able to offset against losses from another (investments). Capital gains should be taxed at the same rate as all other income.
- SUV Tariff discounts. The tax system promotes the use of SUV's over efficient small cars with this discount.
- Subsidies for car manufacturers. Currently these do not encourage fuel efficiency. All business subsidies should be reviewed for environmental and social benefit.
- Religious Tax Breaks. Activity directly related to providing opportunities for public worship should continue to receive public support. However, all business activities unrelated to worship but owned by a religious group should be taxed in the normal way. Tax breaks should not be provided to supporting religious activities that are not publicly advertised or closed to the general public.
- Dividend Imputation. This costs about $20 Billion per annum but does not help companies lower the cost of capital, according to a recent CEDA report. The report suggests using this revenue to lower company tax to 19%. Another approach is to use it to lower all income taxation, along with revenue from Climate Taxes. This has the benefit of keeping company and top Income Tax rates the same.
Axe super tax breaks
19th Jun 2009: "The Federal Government has been urged to scrap superannuation tax breaks for the wealthy, with tax experts declaring them unnecessary, excessive and loaded towards Australia's richest people". more...
Religious Tax Breaks
6th May 2008: Taxpayers' sacrifice to the churches. more...
Brethren reap millions
23rd Sep 2006: Brethren reap millions in tax-free donations. more...