Category: General news

NEVILLE,

GST is all over the news this week, with momentum steamrolling towards a 50% increase in the GST for everyday Australians to fund tax cuts for big business and the wealthiest.

What the…..!?

Leaks reveal plans to hike the GST from 10% to 15% are under serious consideration by Cabinet. That could include expanding the GST to essentials like fresh food and health, which would hit the most vulnerable hardest.

And a powerful combination of business groups and major players in the Liberal Party are pushing for the GST hike to fund tax cuts for big business and Australia’s top income earners.¹ It’s insane, but that’s what could happen if we don’t enter the debate right now.

The Turnbull Government has surged in popularity by distancing itself from Tony Abbott’s attacks on everyday Australians, and they don’t want to put a foot wrong now.

Show them just how unpopular a GST hike will be – click here to call on Prime Minister Turnbull and Treasurer Morrison not to increase or expand the GST.

Modelling shows an average family will pay $2915 more a year if the GST was increased to 15%. Removing the GST exemption on fresh food would also force struggling families to pay 15% more for household staples like bread and milk.²

Meanwhile, one GST proposal costed by a Coalition MP would deliver an income tax cut worth $41,000 to someone making $1 million per year – dwarfing any increase in their GST bill.³

Paying tax is a good thing. Tax funds our schools, hospitals, public transport – the Australian way of life. The problem is multinational corporations are dodging billions in tax, and 1 in 5 major private companies and 55 millionaires paid zero tax last year.^4,5

That’s the problem we need to fix – shutting down loopholes and wasteful corporate handouts – not asking working people to pay more for bread, milk and health care.

Sign the petition for a fairer tax system: https://www.getup.org.au/gst

The Liberal Party are split on GST, with the rightwing determined to divert funding away from community services and into the pockets of the rich and powerful, and others opposing any increase in the GST. Public pressure could tip the balance, if we act quickly – click here to sign the petition: https://www.getup.org.au/gst

Thanks for being a part of it,
Mark, Daney, Nat and Alycia, for the GetUp team

PS – We’ve already seen what happens when ordinary people are priced out of fresh food and veggies in the USA: a malnutrition epidemic leading to record-high obesity levels.⁶ Is this the future we want for our kids? Click here to take a stand against a GST on fresh food.

References
[1] Taxes cut with GST shake-up, The Australian, 2 November 2015
[2] Low income families hardest hit by 15pc GST, The Australian Financial Review, 20 July 2015
[3] Taxes cut with GST shake-up, The Australian, 2 November 2015
[4] One in five large private companies paid no tax last year: ATO, Sydney Morning Herald, 23 Spetember 2015
[5] Tax Office statistics reveal the 55 millionaires who paid no tax, Sydney Morning Herald, 30 April 2015
[6] Hidden hunger: America’s growing malnutrition epidemic, The Guardian, 11 February 2015