Tim Pallas describes his budget as a statement of faith. It is, and not only of faith that Victoria’s extraordinary population boom will continue and necessitate the building of even more schools, roads, railways and hospitals. It’s also a statement of faith in property prices.
A “humongous” lift in Australia’s tax take has put the Turnbull government in the best position to deliver personal income tax cuts in nine years.
The Grattan Institute has made a last-ditch plea for the Turnbull government to abandon the scheduled increases in compulsory superannuation contributions, saying they are already hurting wages.
A schedule to be confirmed on budget night will lift employers' contributions from 9.5 per cent of salary to 10 per cent in 2021, and then by an extra 0.5 points each year until 2025 when contributions reach 12 per cent.
Where are the billions coming from? In part, from property. This financial year Treasurer Tim Pallas will get $6.6 billion from property stamp duty, up from $5.4 billion in 2015-16. He will get $2.4 billion from land tax, up from $1.7 billion in 2015.
Here’s something that should be in the budget but won’t be: an end to the outrageous assault on our wallets that is ever-increasing compulsory superannuation.
I am hearing that it nearly was in next week’s budget, until the government chickened out.