How fair is the Australian Taxation system

I recently attended a very interesting seminar on “How fair is the Australian Taxation system”, presented by the ACCA. It posed many interesting questions.

Are we doing the work of the government by self assessing? Should we be paid for this? (Of note when I lived in England in the 90’s, it was not a requirement that we had to submit a personal tax return).

Historically tax started at 10% and was aimed at funding infrastructure. When a social agenda was introduced the tax rate increased to 40%. (Note: When I lived in Singapore, it seemed to be accepted that you looked after your family, they lived with you, and it was your filial duty. Even though I earned a good salary in Singapore, I never reached the threshold for paying taxes).

When a tax payer has a positive view of society, they are willing to pay tax. When ACCA did a study across UK, US, Canada, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia, Australian had an unwillingness to pay tax, and looked for ways to avoid it. This is not so prevalent in other countries.

There is the perception that tax laws change to help political parties win elections, rather than to benefit the tax payer.

What do Australian need before they perceive Australia to have a fair tax system?

– Simplification

– Reduce the tax amount