"Still, before the 1998 election, Howard proposed a GST that would replace all sales taxes, as well as applying to all goods and services. The Howard Government finished on a two-party-preferred vote of 49.02% at the election, suffering a swing of 4.61% to Labor on 50.98%. However, the incumbent government retained a parliamentary majority of seats in the lower house. Howard described the election win as a "mandate for the GST". Lacking a Senate majority, and with Labor opposed to the introduction of the GST, the government turned to the minor parties such as the Australian Democrats for support." ------------------- Now I know that a GST was supposed to replace existing sales tax as well as a lot, if not all, state taxes and charges. Fair enough....Except that some of those charges are still in place. (Ask people for their comments on Stamp Duty.) Now.... Is anyone able to tell me exactly what percentage tax was levied on service (labour)? I remember invoices that separated out parts and labour, as is done today, with 'parts' listed then 'tax on parts' and labour being the last item listed. There was never a separate listing for 'tax on labour'. Today the whole lot is lumped in together and 10% calculated on the lot. So...Did we pay Tax on labour??
Hi Wolfie Just of the top of my head i think we got the GST and no other taxes dropped off at ALL. But i could be wrong on this. I certainly dont remember a tax being abolished or dumped because of the GST.
To be fair, certain state taxes (levies, bank charges and the like) were eventually scrapped. Others, like sales tax, were rounded up or down to 10%. State tax on petrol was transferred to the Fed Govt for collection and GST was still added. Stamp Duty on homes, with the exception of a bit of fiddling come election time, has gone up and up. As I said in the OP, I can remember receipts with tax being added to the cost of any hardware, but not on the labour component. I remember my folks going crook at the entertainment tax component of my Saturday afternoon at the flicks ticket. They had to have it on the ticket back then. I remember that there was an outcry about kids having to pay tax, and then the obligation to have entertainment, and every other tax, printed on receipts and tickets was deemed by Canberra to be no longer required. It is the labour (service) component I am trying to clarify. It is my belief that there was no tax on labour.
Yes, that is the point of the tax. Pre GST there was no tax on Labour. That is why it is called a GOODS AND SERVICES TAX (or GST for short) Services is LABOUR. Many taxes where removed however, some states retained some taxes (NSW kept payroll tax so business is moving to queensland. NSW has lost about 80% if its industry to other states) So it did not work exactly how it was planned but it does work (to a degree)
Thanx, Garry. So every pensioner in Aus is now paying a tax that they were not paying before GST. Repairs to car....Tax on labour component. Plumber....Tax on labour. TV repair....Tax on labour. Think about all the tax we pensioners have paid thanks to Howard's GST and Meg Lees going against the wishes of those who voted Democrat. All pensioners need to total up their GST between now and the election and on polling day remember what party made you pay TAX in your retirement.
Labor also had a tax more along the lines of the US VAT tax. Both parties were lining up the service industry to get the government cut. The difference being that the coalition was elected. Labor’s policy had not been completely formulated, but they had not intended to remove other taxes as the Coalition did. That however is academic as they did not win the election and again the policy was not fully formulated. I think the funniest thing is that in many cases people are paying a tax on a tax. Look at your fuel next time you get a receipt.
I'm not so worried about 'what might have been', but 'what actually is'. I could argue that with Labor's proposal sanity may have prevailed but, then again, maybe not...Purely speculative, at this point. My main point is that everyone, especially the Old Age Pensioner, is paying tax on something they shouldn't. After paying taxes, both business and personal for 45+ years, why should the wife and I have to pay any tax at all. If I buy a new car, TV, fridge or the like, fair enough; but the bloke who cleans out my guttering once a year?? As for the petrol....Yeah! As I pointed out earlier, when the Feds assumed responsibility for collecting the state tax, GST was added to the final number, thus also taxing a tax, as you pointed out. I think Fed excise is also in the mix and being GSTed as well.
Yes they are... election results demonstrate this well. So How do you consider that this means 0.00436% of the population speaks for the majority? True, Labor's policy on this is simply speculation of what was said. The only point being is that they too wish to find a way to tax the elusive services market. Well that is a very good point. However, all was the chase of the elusive government income. Whittled away by rising costs and government waste, it has become increasingly obvious that more revenue was needed to buy that elusive vote to keep them in power. Many governments have attempted to change the focus of the people, but Howard was extremely successful. Pensioners who worked their lives and paid their taxes are now considered to be the fat cats of society because they have built up a retirement fund. Nobody actually considers what the real picture actually is. I am not sure how they can justify taxing a tax, because that is actually constitutionally wrong. Petrol is the easiest to demonstrate.
I've no complaints myself, but I know of quite a few OAPs who would argue that point with you. I just can't believe that there are OAPs, many of whom complain they are living hand-to-mouth, that don't even realise that they are paying a tax that was introduced without them understanding all the ramifications of it.
Of course there are a lot of people out there that would argue that. But the fact is, so many people consider that if people have worked for everything they have and funded their own retirement are considered to be fat cats. That is why people are fast becoming disillusioned of ALL government. The fact that Governments use this false perception to formulate policy to simply grab money to buy the votes is becoming more apparent. AND PEOPLE ARE NOTICING.
Agreed.... All the more reason for voters to scrutinise ALL policies, regardless of their political leanings.
