match those of the Chinese) in order to keep turning a profit.
Bryan kavanagh,
A Flat Tax would very quickly put those greed mongers back on a level playing ground. Pay chinese wages & pay the same tax rate as everyone else. If it's not an agreeable profit then up your talents. Do not keep relying on limp-wristed bureaucrats to let you off the hook all the time.

indy/mr flAT TAX..AT WHAT STAGE DOES THIS FLAT TAX HAPPEN
[IS IT ONLY ON WAGE EARNERS..[IE a wage tax]
or is it only on dividends..or at point of sale
thiNG IS DEAR BOY YOUR BEING CLOSED MINDED

FLAT TAX IS A BOBBY HORSE
KPMG would love it..they just pick and chose an income stream..that isnT TAXED..or that never acxtually cashes in any taxable cash flow stream

transaction TAX IS A PENNY TAX..ON THOSE moving money
the only fair tax..asa lets face it [those mosT CLEVER GUYS IN THE ROOM/WE FED HOUSED EDUCATED/NOT THE COOPERATE TAX AVOIDING PLUTOCRACY/EXPLOITING THEIR KNOWING.

doppleganger/THERE IS nothing original..in your mantra
how do we tax those 85 blokes who just watch our bailout cash roll into their secret tax free trusts/MATE YOU HAVE TO REALIZE FLAT TAX ISNT a REVENUE STREAM..UNTILL THEY KNOCK ON YOUR DOOR AND AUDIT THE WORTH OF YOUR ASSETS

JUST LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS
JOBS JOBS JOBS HERE COMES THE MATERS MUSTER..TO TAKE 10 PERCENT..OF ALL YOU THOUGHT YOU HAVE.[ITS THE MINDLESSNESS OF YOUR INSANE/MANTRA//like you think your solved 'it all'..by saying flat tax..[how by door knocking?]

how can we trust any claim
what do we do..if liars lie?

better bankers just move 2 percent/per cash movement
[why is the world wide web full of shills?..defending their tax free status?..thier special intrests/..their insane mindchatter/mantra]

the only fair solution/meeting of minds..is tax some point
i say at the point its PAYED..INTO A MONEY ASGENT[AT 2%..]

YOU SAY 10 %..WHERE?
wage earners/bank interest/SHAREHOLDER/HOUSE Prices.
im going to ignore your insane flat/lax/mantra..BECAUSE..CLEARLY..crazy people got closed MINDS

oug,
it could be made a set percentage across the board. Stuff the writing off. There's no way of a 100% compliance, to think that is simply stupid. The major monies are bank transfers or other traceble means & that's where it can be collected and, you'd get a lot fewer people getting away with crook schemes. If you really want to argue about the odd loop holes left over you'd better start a thread of frivolous arguing.
I'd imagine that someone who paid tax on an aquisition will make sure that the next aquirer also pays his dues, that's the kind of greed that is good.

The fallacy behind driving down wages is that people need to be paid enough to consume the goods they produce. When the entire planet exists on subsistence wages, we cannot afford to consume goods produced so the world spirals into poverty.

Perhaps this is the Greens ultimate orgasm of a pristine environment where only they and a few elites will enjoy mother nature.

Arjay,
I don't see lower Australian wages as "driving" them down as much as I see it to make Australia competitive again. A lower Dollar does not mean a lower living standard. It only means the less deserving will get less & the performers will get enough to keep the incentive to perform. Due to Unionism many Australians have lost the focus on value for money or reward for effort. Australian workers have been out-priced by the Unions & those Unions are now keeping a suspiciously low profile.
We can maintain & quite possibly even raise the living standard here if only we can get a level Tax playing field. When it comes to personal financial gain Australians appear to have a conspicuous absense of patriotism.

Freddington
Clearly you don't understand what is meant by a financial transaction tax. Your comment that it would unduly burden the poor makes entirely no sense. If you possess a serious objection then express it.

A financial transaction tax cannot punish the poor as the poor will clearly transact less. On the other hand, all business activity, all loans, share purchases which are not the usual business of the poor would not escape the net.

The reviews you point to do not seriously consider a broad implementation of a financial transaction tax.

The ability to instantaneously collect tax as financial transactions are completed, the efficiency of such a method, the subsequent obsolescence of tax planning, quarterly lodgments, annual lodgments, unnecessary trust funds and other avoidance schemes all evaporate.

The system we have and the manner in which we conduct it does not reflect the digital realities.

Only Accountants, Tax Office Employees and derivative speculators have just cause to object.