Taxes and the Tides of Election Season
Political promises about taxes are never to be counted upon. Looking at Mark Latham’s proposal for low income earners, I’m a bit dismayed. Labor (and I’ve been spelling it wrong up to now, trying to spell it correctly) is proposing $8 per week in tax relief for taxpayers on $52,000 annually, but taking away the government matching funds on voluntary superannuation contributions for those same earners. He says most of the affected population don’t have $1,000 to put into their super, but that’s disingenuous. In fact, although I wouldn’t be eligible for the matching funds, M. would be, and I’d hoped to put us into a position to begin taking advantage of this scheme before long. If Labor gets in, that won’t happen, and our potential old age funds reduced. Not very Laborish, is it? On the other hand, I do agree that a $600 annual payment is not as effective as $130 weekly, so that part of the scheme is not only generous, but truly beneficial. Mark doesn’t get full marks for this: B.