Some Australians are really stupid

[Miss Chicken]

I was on the bus and heard two people (a man and a woman) talking about the flood levy that the Australian government plans to bring in. The flood levy will be .5% for income between $50,001 and $100,000 and a levy of 1 per cent will apply on taxable incomes above $100,000. The levy will last one year.

The woman was complaining because people with an income under $50,000 are not going to have to pay any levy at all. She says everyone should be taxed including those on government benefits. The woman said she doesn't understand why the $60,000 she earns should be taxed while someone on 50,000 gets off scots-free. This woman is too stupid to realise that the first $50,000 of her income is not being taxed and if they had decided to tax that first $50,000 she would end up paying $300 instead only $50.

There was a man who wrote to a newspaper and complained that his family were struggling to make ends meet and that an extra $2400 a year would be taken off his family as a result of this levy. However for a single person to be paying $2400 in levy he would have to be earning $315,000. For a couple to pay $2400 in levy they would be averaging $195,000 each (or $390,000 total). How can anyone on that sort of income be struggling?

I am getting under $20,000 a year and I would be happy to pay .5% in levy (i.e less than $100 for the year) just so I could see all the people who are complaining having to pay an extra $250 a year.

 

[sojourner]

Are you sure that's right? here in the U.S. if a tax is for anyone making more than 50000, then if I make 50001, I pay tax on the entire amount, not just the $1 over.

 

[Miss Chicken]

I am right. If you look at this site there is a tax calculator. If $51,000 is entered it come back that the contribution to the tax levy will be $5.00. If you enter $50,001 it comes back that the levy will be 1c.

It also says in the article

A person earning $60,000 per year will pay just under $1 extra per week under the levy.

If they had to pay it on the whole $60,000 it would be $300 for the levy (i.e just under $6 a week).

When paying income tax in Australia there is a tax-free threshold. I think it is about $6600. No-one pays tax on their first $6600 of income.

Edited to add - I just looked it up. The tax-free threshold on income tax is $6000.

 

[eastman23]

Miss Chicken, the problem is that you're expecting people to understand details. In my experience, people don't.

(Sadly, I'm not really joking...)

 

[Miss Chicken]

Miss Chicken, the problem is that you're expecting people to understand details. In my experience, people don't.

(Sadly, I'm not really joking...)

The details of this levy are very simple. I would expect a man whose income is so high that he thinks he will be paying $2400 in levy to be able to do a simple maths equation.

 

[Mary Ann]

Miss Chicken, the problem is that you're expecting people to understand details. In my experience, people don't.

(Sadly, I'm not really joking...)

The details of this levy are very simple. I would expect a man whose income is so high that he thinks he will be paying $2400 in levy to be able to do a simple maths equation.

I reckon it's not even so much that people can't do simple maths; they haven't bothered to look up the details and have just seen EVIL GOVERNMENT ROBS US BLIND IT'S THE FAULT OF IMMIGRANTS WHAT WOULD PRINCESS DIANA DO-type headlines and don't bother investigating any further. It's laziness rather than stupidity.

 

[Asbo Zaprudder]

Anybody with that sort of income and such paltry understanding probably hires an accountant to handle their tax affairs, which probably costs them way more than this tax.

 

[Count Zero]

A lot of people don't understand linear-progressive taxing. It's quite amazing, actually. Wouldn't you want to know how much money you can really keep for yourself after taxes?
But I've often heard people complain that once you're over a certain threshold you'd have to pay half or almost half of your income in taxes (over 250.400 € the income tax rate currently is 45%, but it used to be higher). When you explain to them that that's not how it works, they look at you blandly.

 

[Miss Chicken]

A lot of people don't understand linear-progressive taxing. It's quite amazing, actually. Wouldn't you want to know how much money you can really keep for yourself after taxes?
But I've often heard people complain that once you're over a certain threshold you'd have to pay half or almost half of your income in taxes (over 250.400 € the income tax rate currently is 45%, but it used to be higher). When you explain to them that that's not how it works, they look at you blandly.

I am also amazed that people have such poor understanding of tax.

As I said in Australia the tax free threshold is $6000

Between $6001 and 37,000 the tax rate is 15c in the dollar

Between $37,001 and 80,000 it is $4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,000 - The $4,650 is amount of tax payable on the first $37,000 i.e at 15%.

Between 80,001 and 180,000 it is $17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000.


therefore for someone earning 90,000

first 6,000 is tax-free
the income between 6001-37000 is taxed at 15%
the income between 37,001 and 80,000 is taxed at 30%
the income over 80,001 is taxed at 37%

yet some people on 90,000 believe that they are paying 37% tax on their entire income.

 

[Count Zero]

I guess it gets obscured here because on the pay slip, there isn't just income tax listed, but also the deductions for social security, church tax (if applicable), health insurance, long term care insurance and solidarity levy and that makes it look as if you have to pay half your gross income (or more) to the state, which is sort of true , but it's not just income tax.