Progressive or flat tax?

[Aqualung]

I considered this but just think about when you are doing a task which you don't find enjoyable. You deliberately work faster and keep yourself busy so the hours go past quicker. A person who wanted to have more hours will simply do more work to get those hours. He will be too bored to drag less work out over a longer period of time

Perhaps. Though if I got payed for length of time and not amount of work, you can bet there would be a decent number who would do as little as possible for as long as possible. I would have this tendency, though I would probably try to overcome that just because it's dishonest. But I definitley have that tendency.

That is debateable. I would have to rate what benefits society based on what society wants. Yes society will often want things which isn't necessarily beneficial, such as continuous TV, but this will create a demand for jobs nonetheless. Such a demand equates to less people out of work and therefore a better economy and this is therefore the ultimate benefit.

That's a good point.

 

[Quoth The Raven]

Ok. We have a sliding scale based on 'brackets' of income.
The first $6,000 is free.
$6001 - $21,600 gets taxed at 15%.
$21,601 - $63,000 is a flat $2,340 plus 30%.
$63,001 - $95,000 is a flat $14,760 plus 42%
$95,001 + is a flat $28,200 plus 47%
There's also a 1.5% medicare levy on top of the above tax rates.
The initial flat figure in each bracket covers the tax payable at varying rates prior to the threshold of that bracket.
Capital gains tax is calculated at your higest marginal tax rate...ie, if you earn over $95,000 any capital gains will be taxed at 47%. At one point I think it was half your marginal tax rate. I'm also pretty sure - but don't quote me on this, as it changes every time you take a breath, just about - the primary place of residence is exempt from capital gains.
The interest on borrowings to finance an investment is a tax deduction. Income from shares - if fully franked - have company tax at a rate of 36% deducted from the amount you receive...if your marginal rate is lower, you get some of that back; if higher you pay out some more to cover the difference.
One of the biggest problems with this taxation system is 'bracket creep'. The brackets aren't indexed to CPI, so eventually you will end up paying more tax, purely by virtue of the fact that incomes rise monetarily, but aren't necessarily worth any more.
We had a GST introduced about 5 years ago. It's a flat 10%, and that's where the simplicity ends. In a lot of cases it replaced sales taxes of up to 22%, and momentarily the cost of goods fell immediately after it was introduced. However the prices soon rose to their pre GST level, not to mention all the services that were previously untaxed that took a 10% hike.
Originally the intention was to just tax everything...the Democrats stood up and said,'You can't tax food.' There was a back and forth in the senate, and now some food is taxed and some isn't. Now we have the situation that if you buy a raw chicken in the supermarket it's GST free, but if you buy a cooked one in the same supermarket, it's taxed.:banghead3
Our tax system is confusing, ever changeing and burdensome.
I don't reccommend it.

 

[Radar]

I know this was not a choice but I would choose a flat consumtion tax. Don' tax my income let me have all I have worked for. Don't tax my investments or my interest gained. Just tax me when I spend my money. Because we all know that we are going to spend money. We need food, my baby needs dipers, my wife wants a new car, I want this part for my motorcycle so forth and so on. Reduce government size, reduce government supported programs let people take responsibility for themselves. If we need assistance look to your family, community, church, charitable organization (private not government), friends etc. We are a democracy not a socialist state.

 

[Sunstone]

I'd be for a consumption tax so long as it's not on food, clothing, or shelter.

 

[Darkdale]

I'd be for a consumption tax so long as it's not on food, clothing, or shelter.

Well, all good? All Clothing? All Shelter? I'm sorry, we do a consumption tax, a $49 million house better include some tax.