Dear rehctub,

Why not stop giving tax breaks to large
multinational corporations and people with
super balances over $2 million, as well as those
who borrow to invest overseas. That might be
a good start. Then how about giving small
businesses the instant asset write-off and
not taking the axe to health services but
making polluters pay a pollution fine and
mining companies a higher share of taxes.
What's taken out of the land should be replaced
as compensation to the nation. If you burn rubbish
in your back yard - you are polluting and you shall
incur a fine so in all fairness other polluters
should also pay fines.

Then there's the Paid Parentlal Leave - which should
be assessed on income levels and not blindly given
to those whose incomes are excessive.

There are few complaints, when the government pays
out far more in "handouts" to the nonpoor than to the
poor - in forms ranging from all sorts of benefits
in one form or another. This fact generally escapes
attention because these benefits take the indirect form
of hidden subsidies or tax deductions rather than the
direct form of cash payments.

Individual, of course Pensioners who receive money to live on from Governments are welfare recipients.

All those who were previously on the 'dole', or similar, also go on to the aged pension after 65 don't they? Doesn't everyone get the same basic aged pension payment, no matter whether they were working before retirement or not?

If they are on a payment from Centrelink that is needed so they can pay for food and other basic costs of living, then they are on welfare payments.

Some small minded people are of the mindset that the Government 'owes them a living' because they paid taxes all their lives.

Rubbish! Those taxes paid for the infrastructure needed during their lifetime, or for future capital works projects, that Governments have built or supplied from the taxes. They certainly didn't save up all the tax money to pay for everyone to use in retirement.

Many people don't need the age pension, or only need part pensions to fund their retirement, but are they less deserving after also paying taxes all their lives?

They certainly didn't save up all the tax money to pay for everyone to use in retirement.
Suseonline,
Yes & no. Ideally people would accumulate sufficient during their working life but as I said ideally. In reality I agree that many do not put anything aside whilst more many get penalised by Governments for having too much. It's a no win situation because many simply don't earn enough to put anything aside & not every working person is a public servant.
There really is no incentive nor opportunity for lower income workers to plan for more than just the pension.

tired, yes rehctub seems to have completely forgotten about *rent*, a principal expense.
Many welfare recipients live in sharehouses and boarding houses, where the standard is cash only.

If six students are sharing a house, how can each of them "debit card" their share?
The lease is usually in one person's name and only they pay the landlord.
But their housemates can no longer give them the cash.

rectub, so who are these all-wise Inquisitors who'll decide which goods and services are "wasteful" (i.e. "sinful")?

Gambling may produce a windfall, getting them off welfare *for life* and starting a business that employs hundreds of others.

Spending half their payment on the pleasures of Big Eye prints and tin robots may be the only thing stopping someone committing suicide.
Are they "wasting" their money?

Can you buy beer/wine/spirits with a restaurant meal?
What about "prohibited by The Inquisition" goods on ebay?

What about out-of-print vintage books, records? No barcodes.

"ever wondered why they want cash? To avoid paying their fair share of taxes"

More presumptions of sinister intent.

All businesses have the legal right to accept cash, so *all* customers should have the equivalent right to pay cash. For anything!

My corner store charges a fee for every EFTPOS transaction and has a minimum spend.
You are now forcing people on very low incomes to buy more goods than they immediately need and pay a fee every time, when they could have just paid cash.

Yuyutsu, shopping valets. Great idea!
Yes, people will find ways to get around this.

Bazz "There are many other expenses newspapers, train & bus fares, farmers markets etc etc that require cash."

Parking meters! Laundromats! Photocopiers! Gumball machines! (ooh lollies, "sinful").

So why not just pay cash and let the recipient decide how to spend it.
You're not saving any money, if they still get the same total value.

Would you want your employer deciding how their staff spend their salary?
They're the ones with the authority to *pay* you.

Playboy magazine? Sorry, our respectable company cannot endorse that, barcode rejected!
Big Brother, here we come.

Suse I suppose a slip of a girl like you is too young to remember, but back in the day we paid a levy, like Medicare, for the old age pension.

Somewhere along the line it was incorporated into general taxation. We have still been paying that levy all our taxpaying years, just most no longer realise it.

Many things like this have been "incorporated" into general taxation. In the 60s the interest on your home loan was tax deductible. This was back when the interest on my home lone was 4.25%, but was incorporated into general deductions. That was of course before Keating got his hands on the levers of the economy, stuffed it up, & interest went to 17%.

Typical of government. Make you pay for something way in advance, waste the money in some undeserving area, then not want to give it to you, when it comes due.

Foxy, this with large amounts in super, are in that position due to contributions made though out their working life.

Besides, this is the very reason why I think any inheritance over half a million should be taxed.

As for instant write offs, forget that, remove the hurdles and red tape that makes it harder to employ people.

Employing people should be better rewarded than buying equipment to replace them.

As for mining, I think they not only do they pay their fair share, but they also create billions more in taxes from their support industries.

As fir being fined for burning rubbish in your back yard, you are not burring it for the benefit of others.

I have no problem with a pollution tax, but tax the user, not the producer, as they are producing only to meet our demands.

The carbon tax is little more than a permit to polute.

Abbotts paid perennial leave, A SHOCKER in my view and I hope it gets defeated.

It also proves that governments don't win elections with a mandate, because I voted for him, but hate this policy.

Suze......Some small minded people are of the mindset that the Government 'owes them a living' because they paid taxes all their lives.

I'm of the opinion that the more one pays in taxes, the higher their pension should be.

Yes Indi, take two people, same age, same income working for life.

One wastes everything, holidays, boats, cars etc etc, the other save wisely.

The wasteful one gets rewarded, while the wise one not only goes without a pension, but he/she also gets lumbered with supporting the wasteful one.

Go figure!

I call it, reward for effort.

Continued