Rhian

What I said was "The GST was also supposed to result in the abolition of some inefficient state taxes". This statement refers to the carrot put forward by those proposing a GST, when it was being sold to the public before the 1988 election.

I did NOT say that "state governments promised to abolish land tax and stamp duty but reneged on that commitment". You are both taking my statement out of context and also forgetting that the State Government commitments (made half a decade later in the mid-1990s) were only made after the more limited GST was negotiated with the Democrats. By then many of the originally floated "carrots" were well and truly pushed off the table through insufficient revenue.

Abolition of stamp duties certainly featured in the selling of the GST. There were fewer references to land tax. The federal and NSW governments in 2006 both engaged in advertising campaigns concerning claims that New South Wales had breached its contractual obligations under the 1999 GST Agreement by continuing to charge stamp duties and land taxes. The New South Wales State Government eventually announced in its budget that it would reduce stamp duty and land tax, but critics argued that the State Government did not go far enough.

See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goods_and_Services_Tax_%28Australia%29.

Trust? What? Trust me I'm politician? Pensioners who' s costs had risen when the GSt was introduced, received $450.00 per to cover an increased of on average $900.00!

Mr Hewson is on the public record advocating increasing the rate to 15%/broadening the base and compensating pensioners by simply doubling the pension rate?

Some intrinsically fair universal tax relief would be available to all, simply by increasing the tax free threshold?

In which case almost every taxpayer would get some relief!

Warren Buffett realised someone as rich and privileged as him shouldn't pay less tax than his secretary. Who was paying 30% of her earnings while billionaire Warren was allowed to pay just 15%?

Given my druthers I'd abolish the GST, Which would leave lazy state governments unable to avoid long overdue reform like a health system that requires outcomes in order to attract funding paradigms. Thereby eliminating most of the waste that effectively doubles the cost of public health care?

Regional autonomy would possibly cut the education budget by as much as 30%; albeit, with large public service redundancy?

And therefore resisted to the last drop of blood to those we the mugs out there in mugsville owe a living to!?

While lying in hospital recovering from a stroke, one of the nurses suggested if we just all paid 10% of our income as tax, The government would have all the money it really needed? Particularly if they just eliminated all the current waste!?

I'm not sure about that, but maybe if we abolished the GST and all paid a transactions tax say 1.1%? As money moved between and in and out of accounts. We could raise all the money we'd need just by making all the current avoidance impossible, via the unavoidable expenditure tax I've long advocated?

Some estimate we are bleeding in excess of 60 billions per in international avoidance/lost revenue?

A sum which would fix the structural deficit and deficits going out as far as the eye can see!?

The GST the only regressive tax in vogue!? A 5% increase guaranteed to kill discretionary spending!?
Rhrosty.

Unfortunately no one has mentioned the large grey elephant in the corner of the room, that being debt.

We are at peak debt, this is why commodity prices are falling, the hip pocket, whether industrial, commercial or domestic can no longer afford the ever increasing costs associated with our style of economy.

We have been on a debt binge since the end of World War Two, unfortunately mainstream economists, politicians and the banking fraternity either don't understand this concept, or don't want to.

Governments will continue to raise taxes, we walking stiffs will have to pay up, but over the long term deflationary forces that cannot be controlled will guarantee we all become poorer and poorer and governments will provide less and less services. This is inevitable in any society, particularly as resources, especially cheap energy, declines. This is a fact when dealing with any finite resources.

Household debt in Australia is at a point where consumers can no longer afford to keep going into further debt to enhance their lifestyles. This will lead to less spending, Vis less demand, Vis less employment, Vis higher individual taxes etc. it's a trap that was baked into the cake and the inevitable collapse of our consumer based way of life is guaranteed.

The timing is the only unknown but I would say we are on the wrong (downward) side of the curve already!

"It's a trap that was baked into the cake and the inevitable collapse of our consumer based way of life is guaranteed."

I'm starting to think this way too, but for other reasons.

No amount of GST increases can make up for consistent foolish spending.

So we're paying women to get pregnant, have kids and for the cost of maintaining both the mother and child/children for years...
And now I saw that Centrelink pays job seekers to get and keep a job.
$2500 for the first years employment and $4000 for the second - total $6500.
If they are assuming the job seekers are lazy, then why reward them for being lazy?
And if there aren't enough jobs to go around then how will this payment improve anything other than cost taxpayers?

...Throwing it away.
This is a nation run by idiots.

I already put my opinion forward weeks ago.

I won't support any increase in the GST until you make politicians accountable.
They make the laws for us, we should make the laws for them.
...And build a prison for them for when they screw up.

The wingers are in. Never mind Turnbull he is the coalitions best leader ever. We have stability, not lies on top of lies like the last fearless leader that was a fraud.

All this Turnbull hatred comes from Conservative voters that would like Australia turned into a one sided communist state. Leave the fat cats alone, and strangle the workers, that is all that mob can see.

More GST and less income tax, that makes good sense. It takes a proper Liberal govt to come up with that. More pension to cover the GST and everybody is happy.

All businesses must pay tax, cut all the deductable crap out. If it is not a direct advantage for a business, it is not a tax deduction. No one can claim 24 hours a day as deductable. Private costs must be separated from business.

More input from everybody must be spread right across community without exception.
Mal and Bill are the right mix of govt; to do just that.

It's 2015 the tax system is a farce
A tax system which is not automated which requires constant manual data entry which requires visits to accountants to navigate through a minefield of exemptions and minimisation strategies

The gst and our entire tax system is not even 20th century thinking it is straight from the 19th century

Why would not we just automate tax payments? Rather than millions of businesses manually processing and calculating and deducting and avoiding and reclaiming.

We implement an automated universal financial transaction tax and ditch the gst and a raft of other taxes

A universal financial transaction tax satisfies every criteria for a good tax - those who spend more pay more, those with little pay little. The collection point is automated at the bank financial institution level. the government would receive the tax immediately and would have up to the minute picture of our economy

A mere 1% financial transaction tax would collect more than the current gst and payg taxes because it would capture the big item transactions, the financial speculation the big deals - and this is the singular reason why it is not implemented - the very rich and powerful don't like to be trapped by simplicity they prefer to dodge and claim

So this whole discussion about increasing gst is simply an acceleration towards the current systems total collapse and the inevitable suffering that will entail