The trouble is rehctub while middle and higher wages grow disproportionately to the lowest wages, the cost of living for that group becomes unwieldy. It is not good enough in a First World country to insist those people get 2nd jobs to be able to keep up with costs of living. What a dangerous precedent that sets for families and for the future.

Perhaps one solution is that which is currently being proposed by the Government in raising the tax-free threshold (somewhere between $16-$21K) to offset these rising living costs. That would certainly not burden business and is a win-win.

Sometimes though wages do have to go up to keep pace with living costs and you rarely hear calls to reduce wages across the board, only when it comes to the lowest paid. This is a bit dodgy if you ask me to ask the poorest people to pay 'more'.

People do talk about celebrities and CEOs alike, basically anybody who is earning a disproportionate salary compared to 'contribution'. There is no doubt that a growing gap between the highest and lowest paid is more damaging to small business than small rises in minimum income, barely more than 20 per week.

The other factor to remember is we are a First World Country trying to compete with Third World conditions.

Lots more factors to discuss even before considering the impact of minimum wage increases.

Firstly, the person on $600 requires every cent of their income Just To Survive.

Meanwhile, the one on $1500 has spare money, or at least should.

So, say we make it a 20% flat tax, that means the one on $600 takes home just $480, $40less, while the on on $1500 takes home $1200, $100 more.
rehctub,
the first two sentences reflect the present situation so, nothing new there.
The third one is a premature assessment because a flat tax would very quickly result in a more fixed wage & price system. You can't compare the present wage/price differential with a flat tax system. A flat tax system would most certainly bring about a greater stability on all fronts. And, stability is what we're all looking for. The dilemma would be to establish who gets paid how much. Public servants should not receive more than a qualified Tradesperson.

It's all planed, rehctub. They don't want your type around, you're a pain in the neck for them. Ever since government became corporate and self interested, small business has been under attack. If your ever ran a huge distribution company, you'd understand why they don't want small customers and actively discriminate against them! It's all business buddy and you're not welcome.

well, here I go again for-lets see- 20 no 25 years?. I wrote a paper back when I was a strapping lad; about tax. The actual paper is unimportant since it was mysteriously buried by the Hawke Government and never saw the light of day. I worked for the fedral Gov in Canberra for 10 years. Basically [ since I've long forgotten the complete context - I gave up in disgust and lost all the papers ]It said 'don't tax people on how much they make but HOW FAST THEY MAKE IT!'
Now before I get jumped on by the intelligencia here, I countered every arguement against it in the book and then some. In the end, no-one could put up an arguement which couldn't be accounted for, gotten around or otherwise modified to suit. I won't attempt to go into details but I invite everyone to have a long hard think about how you think it would work and do the 4 and agin's yourself.

pepper I had given this thread a miss.
but your post interests me.
Flat tax will not work.
What is the guts of your idea
And would increase the GST and removing so many small ones work.
Any one want to comment on American Republicans not wanting the super rich to pay more.
Why do we not see more thoughts on tax here?

Belly, the proposal to lift the threshold for lower income earners has some merit as it at least places more in their pay packets and, it takes burden away from many struggling businesses, it's a win, win.

Of cause, the flip side is, at a time when we need to increase tax revenue, this appears to be an odd tactic in that sense.

What is your view of a finacial transaction tax, and, if you think it won't work, why?