Ten million Australians set for one of the largest tax increases in history: report
People earning less than $126,000 will face one of the largest tax increases in history as an offset introduced under the last government expires, Nine Newspapers reports.
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported Treasurer Jim Chalmers will not continue a tax offset that put up to $1500 in the pockets of middle-income Australians.
The tax offset was introduced under the Turnbull government in the 2018-19 budget, then boosted in March last year.
But the offset won’t continue, the newspapers report.
The increased tax is the equivalent of two Reserve Bank interest rate rises for many.
Those earning $50,000 will be about $29 worse off a week.
Independent MP Dai Le expressed her concern about the reported rise.
“I think the low and middle-income earners share the burden or carry the burden of our tax system,” she told Today.
“It’s going to be really challenging at this point in time where we’re all facing this cost of living crisis.”
While Australians are facing the squeeze from cost of living increases and interest rate rises, the federal government is also looking for ways to make ends meet.
The dramatic scale-up in defence spending to pay for a fleet of nuclear-powered submarines will cost the government billions upon billions of dollars, with the AUKUS agreement estimated to cost $368 billion over its lifetime.
The budget will be announced in May.
