TAX???????

[Old Fella]

Tax system

Even tax accountants have difficulty keeping up with the complexity of the Australian Taxation regulations. As far as personal income tax is concerned it should be made much simpler. Other countries can do it and provide better services than we receive. Hong Kong, for one, has a fixed percentage of income in relation to personal tax. There is a tax free threshold. Earnings above the tax free threshold attract, last time I checked, 15% of gross earnings regardless of the amount earned. No "bracket creep" and every taxpayer knows exactly what their tax payable will be. All we can do in Australia is stumble through doing our own return, or pay someone to prepare a return in the hope that they get it right. And that is just personal income tax. It is the hidden taxes which really hit the "back pocket nerve".