Issue No 34 | 08 October 1999 | |
SatireTax Cuts Come in the Nick of Time for Struggling PackersBy The Chaser
Welfare groups have called upon on the Federal Government to bring forward the date of proposed capital gains tax cuts.
"There are families out there who are really struggling. Only yesterday a lady approached up for bridging finance when she was forced to drive her son's Honda after her BMW broke down," said a spokesperson for the Salvation Army. "Luckily, we managed to hire her a BMW while hers is getting fixed, but it was touch-and-go for a while." On Monday the treasurer Mr Peter Costello released statistics which show the development of a whole new underclass in Australian society created by the boom in Internet stocks. Known as "paper millionaires," these people are hardest hit by the cruel burden of capital gains tax. Mr Costello announced special relief measures for this class, including the slated CGT cuts. "The plight of these people is chilling," Mr Costello said. "A typical member of this underclass is someone who is just wealthy enough to avoid income tax, but not wealthy to know how to move their profits offshore. "In that situation, even though they are wealthy enough not to pay any tax at all, they fall through, what we call the Capital Gains Tax avoidance net," he said. "Sometimes they even have to suffer the indignity of working in a day job to sustain their status as millionaires." "The statistics are chilling. People who invested as little as $400,000 in some Internet stocks in 1998 are now sitting on paper profits of $700,000. Yet with capital gains tax, if they sold their shares tomorrow they would only walk away with $900,000. You would have to get a part time directorship to maintain millionaire status. That sort of situation is simply inhumane," Mr Costello said as he held back tears. Meanwhile, the Toorak branch of the Department of Community Services have announced that its councillors are ready to take action in protest of the neglect of this underclass in society. "Just because their house is worth a million and they have several cars doesn't means that they aren't financially stretched," lamented one counsellor. "Many of our clients are being forced to use their non-frequent flier credit cards due to the lack of wealth they are experiencing."
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Interview: A Crack to the Skull Rail, Tram and Bus Union state secretary Nick Lewocki took on the Carr Government�s radical rail refrom agenda and walked away a winner. He looks back on the week the trains stood still. Economics: Green Backs and Dirty Dollars Paul Ehlrich says the real culprit behind the environmental crisis isn't so much the huge numbers of people in the world or conspicuous over-consumption in the West but an economic system that confuses price with cost. Unions: Tally Ho! A landmark meat industry decision might not have the impact the reith cheer-squad hopes for. History: The Western Express West Australian historians are undertaking a project to chronicle that state's rich rail history. Republic: The Referendum: A Spot of Reading John Passant looks a the propaganda passing as information in the lead-up to the referendum. Indigenous: Australia Snubs Nose at the UN The United Nations General Assembly will be told that Australia has breached an international convention on racial discrimination that Malcolm Fraser�s Government ratified 24 years ago. International: Desert Flashpoint The United Nations has confirmed that demonstrations were suppressed in Western Sahara last month. Review: Temper Democratic Humphrey McQueen has been a fearless critic of received opinions across a range of subjects for many years, and as a consequence has been criticised or more often ignored in debates in Australia. Satire: Tax Cuts Come in the Nick of Time for Struggling Packers Welfare groups have called upon on the Federal Government to bring forward the date of proposed capital gains tax cuts. Labour Review: What's New in the Information Centre Read the latest issue of Labour Review, a resource for union officials and students.
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