Pitch Engine
The Property Pack

.

Election tip: 23.9% is a meaningless figure, ignore the tax-to-GDP ratio

  • Written by Peter Martin, Visiting Fellow, Crawford School of Public Policy, Australian National University
Election tip: 23.9% is a meaningless figure, ignore the tax-to-GDP ratioIt'd be wise not to get too bamboozled by figures when watching the leaders' debates, especially this one.Shutterstock

Expect to hear a lot about tax during the coming leaders’ debates.

Which is why it’s important to get two things straight.

The first is that you can’t argue against a tax by pointing out that it will take money from...

Read more: Election tip: 23.9% is a meaningless figure, ignore the tax-to-GDP ratio

More Articles ...

  1. Labor's crackdown on temporary visa requirements won't much help Australian workers
  2. Vital signs. Zero inflation means the Reserve Bank should cut rates as soon as it can, on Tuesday week
  3. House prices and demographics make death duties an idea whose time has come
  4. Media Files: Investigative journalist Adele Ferguson on the 'disappointing' banking royal commission and how she works with whistleblowers
  5. The budget's dirty secret is the hikes in tax rates you're not meant to know about
  6. Vital Signs: the 'ball-tampering' budget trick they don't want you to know about
  7. The IKEA effect: how we value the fruits of our labour over instant gratification
  8. Constructively tough? Neither side has committed to fully adopting perhaps the most important recommendation of the banking royal commission
  9. Grattan Orange Book. What the election should be about: priorities for the next government
  10. Your income tax questions answered in three easy charts: Labor and Coalition proposals side by side
  11. Memories. In 1961 Labor promised to boost the deficit to fight unemployment. The promise won
  12. A simpler tax system should spark joy. Sadly, the one in this budget doesn’t
  13. View from The Hill: Frydenberg up to Bowen's old tricks
  14. Four common debt traps: payday loans, consumer leases, blackmail securities and credit 'management'
  15. Vital Signs: why governments get addicted to smoking, gambling and other vices
  16. Retiree home ownership is about to plummet. Soon little more than half will own where they live
  17. What the finance industry can tell us about what's holding back wages
  18. Artificial intelligence may take your job, so political leaders need to start doing theirs
  19. More hospitals will not cure Australia's ailing health-care system. There's a more efficient way
  20. What will the Coalition be remembered for on tax? Tinkering, blunders and lost opportunities
  21. Potentially unaffordable, and it still won't fix bracket creep. The Coalition's $300 billion tax plan assessed
  22. Tourists behaving badly are a threat to global tourism, and the industry is partly to blame
  23. Chinese investment in Australia is down 36%. It's time for a more balanced debate about the national interest
  24. Those future tax cut promises... they're nowhere near as big as you'd think
  25. What just happened to our tax? Here's an explanation you'll understand
  26. NATSEM: federal budget will widen gap between rich and poor
  27. Politics with Michelle Grattan: Jim Chalmers on Labor's budget reaction
  28. The trouble with Big W: don't blame online for killing discount department stores
  29. The budget super change that helps the wealthy at the expense of the young
  30. Infographic: Budget 2019 at a glance
  31. View from The Hill: budget tax-upmanship as we head towards polling day
  32. Frydenberg’s budget looks toward zero net debt, but should this be our aim?
  33. It’s the budget cash splash that reaches back in time
  34. Iron ore dollars repurposed to keep the economy afloat in Budget 2019
  35. Tax: in Denmark it is a term of affection
  36. How to get ready as the US-China trade war spills over to other countries
  37. The false hope offered by talk of a living wage
  38. Bad news. Closing coal-fired power stations costs jobs. We need to prepare
  39. A national living wage is on the table. Now let's talk about a global living wage
  40. Expect tax cuts and an emptying of the cupboards in a budget cleanout as the billions roll in
  41. Sam and the honest broker: why Commissioner Hayne wants mortgage brokers to charge fees
  42. Frydenberg should call a no-holds-barred inquiry into superannuation now, because Labor won't
  43. Funding boost for policing finance sector, in budget that warns of economic softening
  44. Jobs but not enough work. How power keeps workers anxious and wages low
  45. No better than roulette. How foreign exchange trading rips off mum and dad investors
  46. Depending on who you are, the benefits of a cashless society are greatly overrated
  47. Super power: why the future of Australian capitalism is now in Greg Combet's hands
  48. Two ways to fund NSW election promises as property prices crash
  49. Introducing shadow equity: a fresh idea to escape the low wage trap
  50. Pandanomics is a grey area, but to us the value of giant pandas is black and white