Any talk of "reform" by a far Left politician raises hairs on the back of the neck.

When I hear 'death taxes' I imagine a pack of hyenas feeding off a carcass left by a higher order of animal that put in the effort to provide for itself and its family.

Death taxes are a red herring - they will never happen again in this country. So also is the portrayal of Piketty - his main analysis is that the comparative equality of the mid 20th century was a historical anomaly. True.

But we can agree, that the appointment of the legally-blonde Grattan hack Danielle Wood is astonishingly corrupt. A perfect pal for the patsies Kennedy at Treasury, Bullock at RBA, and Gruen at ABS.

Chalmers now has a quadrella of four "independent" economic advisers on huge salaries who'll do exactly as they are told, especially as regards endorsing massive immigration and the fiction of "net zero".

I fail to see a modest tax linked to GST as simple example, would be a burden to those lucky enough to win the inheritance lottery.

I agree. And I believe we need root and branch tax reform which I have laid in detail in earlier commentary. So, I won't repeat myself yet again as that would be a useless exercise that as usual, falls on tin ears and closed minds desperate to maintain the status quo and privilege.

And too stupid with closed minds and closed ears, to understand with my proffered tax reform, everybody is better off except the tax avoiders and evaders!

Why should a small and shrinking cadre of the less well-off carry almost the entire tax burden, while the wealthiest pay almost nothing or nothing whatsoever!

We do not need all the productivity killing taxes we currently pay and the myriad tax compliance costs that are inherent with them.

Young people should not be saddled with the debt of older generations and inept, corrupt and or incompetent governments! And get nothing for it except the debt!

If we taxed the multinationals the same as the local businesses, we could build a rapid rai system the envy of the world and inherit the huge economic benefit and growth that would be part of that infrastructure roll out.

Cant died in a cornfield over a century ago!

Just take a butchers at Japan while she built her rapid rail and the economic growth and expansion it produced at that time.

Only killed by debt laden speculators the government was too stupid to keep out! And not the only economic miracle to be destroyed by the same economic predation/insanity.
Alan B.

Of course they are, even The Economist thinks they are the best of all taxes. I'd suggest say anything over $5Million, taxed at 85% would be a good place to start

Embedding oligarchal inequality is never a good thing and leads to nothing but corruption

https://www.economist.com/leaders/2017/11/23/a-hated-tax-but-a-fair-one

"Roosevelt, who warned that letting huge fortunes pass across generations was “of great and genuine detriment to the community at large”, would doubtless be aghast at the situation today"

>The right approach is to strike a balance between the two extremes. The precise rate will vary from country to country. But three design principles stand out. First, target the wealthy;

If you through your industry, frugality and deferred gratification have managed through your own efforts to retire wealthy. Why should the drones, bludgers and piss up the wall, fellow countrymen think that yours/my Children's inheritance should be taxed?

It'd kill the vote for any party stupid enough to install it.

There's a better and fairer way that taxes all equally and equitably in fair measure to their means and income. And improves productivity, plus, eliminates avoidance and tax avoiding Ponzi schemes, ends bracket creep.

Raises more ATO annual income, 60 billion per, minimum, while removing costly compliance costs and entirely unproductive number crunching. And it starts and ends with a 15% flat tax.
Alan B.

Al B

But just maybe, the extra taxes could build new hospitals which directly benefit all society across the board, even the wealthy.

Also, the extra taxes would possibly bring your dream of fast trains closer to reality.
And of course, the main beneficiaries of fast trains are the wealthy!

We don't need extra taxes! Just make evasion and avoidance by all comers, a thing of the past. And create a system that has no loopholes nor reductions for this or that outlay.

Which means the tax rate can be set at 15% which is 2% more than any company currently pays and about 15% more than most multinational companies like google pay.

Which if collected via an unavoidable transaction tax, would add more than 64 billion to the annual tax budget. Which if used first and foremost to build a very rapid rail system would create a huge economy the like of which this country has never seen.

Add MSR thorium and MSR nuclear waste burners, burning waste we are paid annual millions to take. Will create for us the economy with the lowest energy cost by miles anywhere in the world and oblige most of the high-tech manufacturers to relocate to this country along with their profits and tax liabilities.

And in the bargain triple or quadruple the size of our economy as an exporter of surplus energy.

Simple Simion thinks all is required is more productivity killing taxes and bigger dole payments for, wouldn't work in an iron lung, drones.

All that has ever achieved is higher levels of evasion and avoidance and an ever larger and costly compliance bureaucracy.

If tax is not too costly a burden on your business, there's no compulsion to avoid, particularly if the cost of avoidance is higher than the total tax and compliance costs, take!
Alan B.

Fast trains do not exclusively benefit the wealthy, but are a boon to workers, commuters and intending homeowners.

[One notes that some of the old steam trains were capable of speeds exceeding 200 klms per hour!]

All that's required with the rollout of very fast electric trains is the rezoning laws to be removed from councils and onto an independent and pragmatic body.

[They cannot be slower than the old fast steam trains!]

Most of the new high-tech companies that would come to these shores with the advent of the world's cheapest energy would be largely automated and roll day and night with few human hands involved.

My preferred tax laws root and branch reforms would also bring a flood tide of self-funded retirees and thousands more low skill workers jobs.

So, solving multiple issues with rational economic pragmatism and rational logical progressive steps!

It's a package that cannot be cherry picked, but, rolled out with a non-negotiable timetable by the government of the day.

Done as envisaged, the current debt and deficit will solve itself via economic growth that leaves none behind!
Alan B.

Won’t work Al b first there would need to be Politicians with vision. We all of us know how far that horse is from the starting gate.

Second, the country is so far down the gurgler from lack of vision, I think far thinking innovations are beyond salvation.

Maybe if Danial Andrews were to make it to Canberra, Australia could hedge its bets with Chinese know how, engineering expertise and investment from its belt and road initiatives, before the country is converted into a U.S. military mega munitions fortress which will kill any possibility of the benefits of competition.

For any hope of progress we need to be playing off one against the other, not backing the only nag in sight!