
Issue No 35		15 October 1999

Letters to the Editor

Tax Ideas Not in the Hunt

I read with great interest Ray Hunt's article on tax reform. Unfortunately, the article was burdened by outdated rhetoric, and some wrong assumptions.

I draw your particular attention to some of the proposed "tax reforms" suggested in the article.

- US1 cent on every e-mail - easily collected via Internet Service Providers. US2 cents on each business e-mail.

Why would you ever want to tax communication. Also, once the GST is introduced, the subscriber will be double

taxed, with paying GST on the initial subscription, and then every time they send an email.

- one per cent of every gross futures trade / two percent over $US1 million - easily collected via the Futures Exchange's automated trading system.

- one per cent of every gross share trade / two percent for trades over $1 million -easily collected via the Stock Exchange's automated trading system.

Both these amount to the same as a stamp duty, which are set to be abolished.

- one per cent of every gross currency transaction / two per cent over $US1 million - easily collected via the Currency Exchange's automated trading system.

This should be dealt with by the GST. Also, a problem with thresholds, is if people were desperate to get around paying such a tax, they could e.g.

exchange currency in lots below the $1m threshold and get around it all together.

- one per cent of every credit card transaction - collected via banks. Two per cent on business credit cards.

This would reimpose stamp duty which are set to be abolished.

- two per cent carbon tax on all non-renewable fuels and energy - business and domestic - to fund global reforestation.

Why unduly tax something ie fuel exploration and mining - an industry that Australia is very efficient in?

- one US cent per Internet search - easily collected through search companies. Two US cents on business Internet searches.

Why tax information?

- Two per cent on every standard airline ticket / four per cent business class / six per cent first class.

Some airports already run a departure/arrival tax.

- Two and a half per cent business turnover tax - an idea floated at Hawke's 1984 Taxation summit. Apply to companies grossing more than $20 million per annum.

This is simply ridiculous.

Cheers

Roberto Colanzi

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Issue 35 contents

Interview: Strategic Responses
NSW Police Association president Mark Burgess has worked in the coal mines and the waterfront - now he�s the public face of NSW police

Republic: Negative Campaigning
If the Republic fails, one of the main complaints which should be leveled against the ARM is its refusal to play dirty.

Unions: Interpreter smooths the way for Kosovar Refugees
�The people really appreciate what Australia has done for them but they still want to go home," said Ariana Biba, a HREA member who has been worked recently as an interpreter assisting newly arrived refugees from Kosovo.

Education: Count Yorga's Evil Plot
NTEU president Carolyn Allport looks at Kemp's brazen attack on univestities and warns the battle is not won yet.

Safety: Death in the Snowy
Beyond the engineering achievements of the Snowy Mountains Scheme, there is the tragic story of those workers killed or seriously injured in the construction of the project.

International: Why Is the WTO So Anti-Labour?
Driving the cost of labour down appears to be the main priority of the World Trade Organisation

History: The Importance of Tradition
Historical documents bring us into closer contact with the past and its concerns as this 1945 extract from the NSW Nurses Association journal, The Lamp, shows.

Review: McLibel - The Mice That Roared
This documentary is the classic tale of the little guys against the system, a battle for the right to dissent.

Satire: Government Privatises Numbers
Prime Minister John Howard released a new policy on numerals yesterday, to bring them in in line with the Liberal Party's plan to privatise �Pretty much everything before we lose office.�

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