Where do our taxes go?

[prawn_86]

I usually try and avoid political threads, so please lets not turn this into a labor/liberal bashing thread because they are each as bad as each other.

In response to Smurf in the NBN thread:
Where do our taxes go?

Electricty, Roads, Water are all privatised. Education is paid back via HECS. Health is private and/or paid for via the Medicare levy. Aside from defence, where does the rest of the tens of thousands of dollars a year i pay in tax go?

 

[boofhead]

Do you want federal and state taxation and expenditure?

HECS is aimed at university. It doesn't cover other education types like TAFE, primary and secondary schools.

Plenty of federal revenue is passed on to states to spend. Hmm, it might be a better exercise to follow state governments first then move on to federal.

Most (all?) departments will have a sub-section for auditing.

 

[drsmith]

Where do our taxes go?

I think much, if not all income tax collected is recycled through tax transfer into welfare and assistance, so with that, you can sleep soundly at night knowing that all income tax you pay is in effect a donation paid to others.

I hate to think how much money goes into administration and compliance. Our tax system is a mess which gets worse with each and every tweak by the government of the day to woo the swinging voter.

The the effective marginal rate of income tax for a family with two children is a perfect illustration of the mess it is (chart below).

Figure 4: Effective Marginal Tax Rates for a couple with children aged 13 and 15, 2012–13

http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/bd/bd1112a/12bd065

 

[Julia]

HECS is aimed at university. It doesn't cover other education types like TAFE, primary and secondary schools.

Yes.

Plenty of federal revenue is passed on to states to spend. Hmm, it might be a better exercise to follow state governments first then move on to federal.

Agree. Contrary to what you suggest, prawn, not all electricity is privatised. In regional Qld at least it's still under control of State government. Ditto roads and most other infrastructure.

You have also ignored all the massive spending on welfare.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Politicians.
Police.
Ambulance.
Fire fighters.
The many many government agencies/departments.

 

[stewiejp]

DHS, the courts, prisons, EPA, Worksafe, parks and gardens, legal aid, ATO, ACCC, town planning, councils, housing, indigenous services and of course social welfare... and something tells me the medicare levy doesn't cover the full cost of bulk billing + running the hospitals and all that goes with it but I could be wrong..

Then there's the defence, policing and other emergency services and all that goes with it (lawyers, secretaries, computer dudes etc).

 

[MrBurns]

I think much of it goes down the gurgler, wasted.
Corruption and theft also.

 

[pilots]

I think much of it goes down the gurgler, wasted.
Corruption and theft also.

Don't forget BOAT PEOPLE, they need it more than the old and sick who have lived, worked, and paied taxs.

 

[Calliope]

You have also ignored all the massive spending on welfare.

And this is four years ago!!

How much is currently spent on welfare?
In 2008–09, total welfare spending was $136.6 billion, of which $94.4 billion (69%) was cash payments and $42.2 billion (31%) was for welfare services.

http://www.aihw.gov.au/expenditure-faq/

 

[saiter]

Education is paid back via HECS.

I'm pretty sure that Education is not entirely funded by the student (through HECS). For commonwealth supported places, the government essentially funds everything and makes the student pay back a proportion of those funds through HECS.

 

[dutchie]

Former MPs want their perks back
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/former-mps-want-their-perks-back/story-e6freuy9-1226508716051

RETIRED federal MPs are threatening a High Court challenge to claw back millions of dollars in generous perks, including lifetime Gold Pass and superannuation payments.
The umbrella group representing former MPs has asked the Commonwealth to fund the legal challenge, which could result in windfall gains for up to 400 parliamentarians.
A successful court ruling would also flow through to some current MPs who stand to lose about 60 per cent of annual Gold Pass perks when they retire.
Respected legal figure and former attorney-general Bob Ellicott has offered to spearhead the constitutional test case, which comes after a series of landmark reforms passed parliament earlier this year - including slashing the Gold Pass entitlement from 25 domestic flights a year to 10.
Results: Today's poll
Do ex-MPs deserve to keep their perks?
• Yes 4.48% (411 votes)
• No 95.52% (8771 votes)
The changes also "delinked" superannuation payments for retired MPs from hefty wage increases which flowed through to the 226 MPs and senators in the current parliament to prevent so-called "double dipping".
The Association of Former MPs of the Parliament of Australia (AFMPA) believes the changes breach the "just terms" clause of the Constitution - made famous in 1997 film The Castle.
The association wrote to the Commonwealth about a month ago seeking funding for a "test case" in the High Court.
The prospects of a messy legal challenge has incensed some former and current parliamentary figures, who believe it will add to a "snouts in the trough" perception.
Have your say on MP perks below
Community outrage over the generous perks paid to retired MPs led to the reforms.
More than 25,000 free flights were taken by retired MPs and their families over the past decade, with former Speaker Ian Sinclair taking more than 750 flights costing over $250,000. Between July and December last year, Mr Sinclair and his family took 55 free flights costing $19,000, while former Liberal minister Geoff Prosser cost taxpayers $24,000 including $10,378 for three trips to Broome, where he has a holiday home.
A raft of former MPs are supporting the legal challenge, including former Howard government minister John Moore and long-serving Liberal senator Grant Chapman.
Last night, Mr Chapman confirmed the association's intent to pursue action in the High Court.
"This is a constitutional issue that needs to be resolved," he said

(my bolds)

That's where our taxes go - to fund court challenges so that the parasites can gorge more from the pig trough of public money (taxes)!

 

[McLovin]

Electricty, Roads, Water are all privatised. Education is paid back via HECS. Health is private and/or paid for via the Medicare levy. Aside from defence, where does the rest of the tens of thousands of dollars a year i pay in tax go?

Roads are privatised? A miniscule number of roads are private, the rest are not.

With the exception of, I think, Victoria, water is not privately owned.

Education is paid for by the government until the end of high school.

The Medicare levy doesn't come close to paying for health care. Even with private health insurance most health services are still paid for by the government. The actual system for calculating who pays what when a privately insured patient has surgery is ridiculously complex...The government pays for the surgeon up to the rate that Medicare will charge, if you have no gap cover and the surgeon wants to charge more (usually the rate that the AMA suggests but theoretically the surgeon could charge whatever he/she wants) then the insurer pays this, otherwise the patient pays. The operating theatre is paid for by the health insurer. Instruments used during the surgery (scalpels etc) are paid for by the insurer, but anything left inside the patient (a prosthetic) is paid for by Medicare. Once they are recovering in a hospital bed the amount is again split, although I'm not quite sure how.

Mostly the tax system redistibutes in income. Those FTB A/B things etc.

 

[Knobby22]

Also one off taxes like the Queensland flood levy.
I had a few profits last financial year and I had to pay over $800 towards this. Surprised me a bit.
You better be nice to me you Queenslanders when next I visit

 

[prawn_86]

Also one off taxes like the Queensland flood levy.
I had a few profits last financial year and I had to pay over $800 towards this. Surprised me a bit.
You better be nice to me you Queenslanders when next I visit

Yep yet another reward of mis-management. Why should i pay for a state government that doesnt take out insurance? Or that allows building in flood prone areas? I dont care where people live, but that is their decision and it shouldnt effect the money i earn

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Can anyone remember what the eligibility criteria were for the government "rising electricity cost" rebate? I don't think I got one. Or a link would be good. Thanks.

 

[Julia]

Yep yet another reward of mis-management. Why should i pay for a state government that doesnt take out insurance? Or that allows building in flood prone areas? I dont care where people live, but that is their decision and it shouldnt effect the money i earn

That's a very reasonable point. The Bligh government used to argue that flood insurance was not cost effective.
Well, I don't suppose it is, compared to having all taxpayers foot the bill for you instead.

Now that they have to renew their insurance, many of the people living in flood prone areas have found it priced well beyond their means, e.g. previous premium around $1000: new premium $16,000. Presumably the insurance companies don't want to cover these properties. Fair enough. I don't want my premium to be jacked up to subsidise someone who insists on living beside a river which floods every summer.

 

[Junior]

http://www.budget.gov.au/2012-13/content/overview/html/overview_42.htm

 

[prawn_86]

http://www.budget.gov.au/2012-13/content/overview/html/overview_42.htm

View attachment 49535

"General", "Other" and "All other" very descriptive stuff there

Good marketing by the government

 

[Miss Hale]

"General", "Other" and "All other" very descriptive stuff there

Good marketing by the government

Yes and "Other" and "All Other" are quite big chunks!

 

[Smurf1976]

With the exception of, I think, Victoria, water is not privately owned.

Education is paid for by the government until the end of high school.

Water, electricity etc are however run as though they were private. That is, you pay the actual cost, plus additional taxation (the government equivalent of profit and/or dividends).

So water, electricity etc are not covered by direct taxation as such, and in most cases themselves also include a hefty rate of tax equivalents (that's the term they use) on top of the actual cost.

As for schools, by the time you count levies and the cost of excursions etc then public schools are anything but "free". The taxpayer might carry part of the cost, but certainly not all of it.