Professors John Freebairn and Miranda Stewart have penned an opinion piece today in The Age with a welcome call for state tax reform that could save taxpayers tens of billions every year. Most taxes carry deadweight losses - value destroyed as behaviour is distorted...
BLOG: Stamp Duty
Dan Tehan wants to end Stamp Duty – for a big new GST???
MHR Dan Tehan (Liberal, Wannon) had an op-ed in today's Australian Financial Review, States dragging their heels on tax reform, criticising them for clinging to very bad taxes, notably Stamp Duty on property conveyancing. “Home buyers across the country are still...
Another day, another parliamentary inquiry
The House of Representatives economic committee inquiry into Home Ownership was opened with fanfare and encouraging comments by chair John Alexander (Liberal, Bennelong): "Some have said we are on track to becoming a Kingdom where the Lords own all the land and the...
Political cowardice, bad taxes and the FIRB furball
The Australian people are being distracted from the main game by a mad side-show over foreign nationals buying our land. The sheer scale of this buying is further inflating our sorely overheated property market, imposing great costs on first-time buyers, giving a free...
Free the people – use good taxes
The Housing Industry Association's Harley Dale and the Urban Development Institute's Michael Corcoran have called for the repeal of Stamp Duty in favor of a broad-based land tax, News Corp reports today. Both lobby groups fear an extension of the GST to building...
The valuation conundrum – not.
By Bryan Kavanagh and David Collyer This week’s game-changer, the Property Taxes paper by Grattan Institute has a minor error on land valuation that needs correcting before it becomes a gift to the opponents of reform. Grattan is acutely aware that on this topic they...
Grattan proposes land tax – oops, property levy.
The Grattan Institute has just released a working paper Property Taxes to lift our thinking about which are the best taxes to reform onto. Grattan CEO John Daley and Senior Associate Brendan Coates say: “...states and territories have a looming funding gap, and have...
The land tax strumpets
Two organisations share the acronym PCA: the Property Council of Australia and the Prostitutes Collective of Australia*. One makes a useful civic contribution, the other is a bunch of filthy whores who will do anything for money and deserve universal condemnation for...
Treasurer Hockey supports ending stamp duty for land tax
PRESS RELEASE 19 May 2015 MELBOURNE:- Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has endorsed moves by South Australia to abolish Stamp Duty and replace it with a nil exemption, broad-based land tax. He said the cost of an annual land tax would likely be less in the long term than...
Budget deadweight, Prosper happenings
Join our fortnightly enews on all things evolving economics. Read past editions. Share with your friends! Having trouble reading this newsletter? View it online. The enews of Prosper & Earthsharing Australia MAY 2015 Gratis Tech Crash 101 Our deepest apologies...