Amazingly, (and diseblingly ?) GST has never been included in Inflation figures.

We need more railways than we need roads.

Petrol taxes add to the price bottom line of everything.

"Petrol taxes add to the price bottom line of everything.

So what? So does income tax. Only difference is that petrol taxes are far less evenly distributed. Even if they did add equally to everything, that's good from an economic perspective.

So what?
So we are tryring to look at taxes that are inflationary
The, 38c a litre, excise is one. made even worse by 10% GST on waht the final cost happens to be.
It is a tax conceived in a pre-GST-environment that needs to be done away with.
Do you have any better suggestions?

A friend just sent me this
> > The big lie of Liberal supremacy was economic management. In fact, they
> > knew how to generate income, but not how to spend it. We could have been
> > building what Europe built in this past decade - superb hospitals,
> > bullet trains, schools and training centres, low cost public transport
> > of luxurious quality, magnificent public housing. We pissed it all away
> > on tax giveaways and consumer goods. On bloated homes that we will not
> > be able to cool or heat, or sell, and cars we won't be able to afford to
> > drive. A party based on self interest may evaporate along with our
> > rivers and lakes, and have no role to play in a world where we
> > co-operate or die.
> >
> > Steve Biddulph is a psychologist and author.

Michael 2.The GST has never been included in inflation figures?I thought it had been.However inflaton would not have changed much anyway.We had state sales taxes of 20-30%.Remember that businesses over time absorb half the tax anyway.Many small businesses under extreme competition absorb all of it.

The best philosophy is to have small Govt,independant people who can look after themselves.In 1951 average income tax was just 11% of gross income.They could build things like the Snowy Mt Scheme with almost no money.Where have we gone wrong?

"So we are tryring to look at taxes that are inflationary

Petrol taxes are no more inflationary than other goods taxes.

"Do you have any better suggestions?

Yes, we should increase it.

"It is a tax conceived in a pre-GST-environment that needs to be done away with.

It's conception is not invalid. It internalises an externality.

No GST in inflation figures. I was told this and found it hard to believe myself. It seems the Reserve bank can pick and choose what it includes in inflation figures. Quite amazing really; but do you remember a sudden 10% surge in inflation when GST was introduced?

"changed much anyway.We had state sales taxes of 20-30%"
No this was not the case. Sales tax was levied on the wholesale price of some goods at c 12, 20 and 30%. It was always a Fedral Tax.
The GST was to replace this cumbersome, unfair system and also some State Taxes. The NSW Government and Costello were arguing at one stage as Costello would not give NSW 500mil PA in GST revenue that they were entitled to, because Costello said not enough NSW state taxes had been abolished. Suddenly NSW politicians went quiet about this so I am not sure what the outcome was. Perhaps NSW is owed a few billion in GST by the Feds?

I agree with you freedriver that all taxes add to inflation. But not all taxes do it equally, or with equal social & business fairness.
The Fuel excise was put on petrol when we were paying 50c a gallon for petrol. Different times demand different taxation mixes.

If our business people did not have to pay double tax on fuel their ability to compete in overseas markets would be greater. Farm produce would be cheaper, and the cost of transporting goods, here and overseas, would be cheaper.
We are not only a huge spread out country, we are along way from our major international markets. Taking the double taxation off fuel would help get our budget deficit down, by encouraging exports.

At least take the tax of gas, which we have lots of, and ethanol suplimented fuels, so the Queensland cane farmers can get some of the fat, multi-national, oil company's revenue.