Angus. Cannon. Foot. A match made in taxation debate heaven.

Among the many mistakes in Angus Taylor’s budget response last month was his claim that not indexing income tax thresholds to inflation was a form of ‘stealing’ from taxpayers. What is fraud?

The scam is Angus not doing his homework. If he had, he would have learned that if his more numerically savvy predecessors, Howard and Costello, had introduced automatic indexing 30 years ago, taxpayers would have been worse off, not better off.

According to an analysis by Australian Institute“The average worker is about $150 a week better off. Nurses, teachers, and police officers are $172 to $207 a week better off. Someone who is really well off and makes twice the median income is $355 a week better off.”

This is because indexation removes the ability of Governments of any kind to adjust tax settings according to the ebb and flow of the economy and general policy considerations, rather than relying on a strict indexing scheme.

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