Look at these tax rates - New England Patriots Forums

Gainzo · 04-07-2011, 03:01 PM

I can't believe anyone lives in Australia with these outrageous taxes.

Individual income tax rates

Quote:

Tax on income.

0 – $6,000 = Nil
$6,001 – $37,000 = 15c for each $1 over $6,000
$37,001 – $80,000 = $4,650 plus 30c for each $1 over $37,000
$80,001 – $180,000 = $17,550 plus 37c for each $1 over $80,000
$180,001 and over = $54,550 plus 45c for each $1 over $180,000

Not to mention the unemployment rate:

Economy adding 1200 jobs a day

Quote:

Economy adding 1200 jobs a day
Peter Martin
April 8, 2011

AN AVALANCHE of new jobs piled on at the rate of 1200 a day has put a ''4'' in front of Australia's unemployment rate, returning the labour market to the golden days before the financial crisis took hold.

The March unemployment rate of 4.9 per cent is the lowest since January 2009, when cutbacks in the wake of the collapse of Lehman Brothers in the United States ended 35 straight months of rates beginning with ''4''.

''This is a really strong result,'' said Jobs Minister Chris Evans. ''It means we are now very close to full employment. We've created 32,000 full-time jobs in just the past month, more than 750,000 new jobs since Labor took office.''

The news sent the dollar to a new post-float high of US104.82¢ and saw the futures market all but eliminate the previously priced-in small probability of an interest rate cut.

Victoria's unemployment rate is now the second lowest of any state at 4.5 per cent, beaten only by Western Australia at 4.2 per cent.

In New South Wales, the unemployment jumped from 4.8 per cent to 5.1 per cent.

The dive in Victoria's unemployment rate from 5 per cent to 4.5 per cent was brought about by a jump of 6500 new jobs, propelling the rate well below 5 per cent for the first time since 2008.

ICAP economist Adam Carr said the news showed jobs growth was back on track. ''I think what we saw over the December and February period was a weather-distorted lull,'' he said.

If the jobs growth continues as this rate, Mr Carr expects the Reserve Bank to increase interest rates by June.

ANZ economist Riki Polygenis said the unemployment rate could now dive more quickly than had been expected. ''The available workforce is growing more slowly as population growth slows,'' he said.

Forgot about religion in Australian public schools. What would the bible bashers here do for this kind of access?

http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/st...407-1d698.html

Quote:

ThE state government will boost funding to Christian education classes in schools in the budget, with Education Minister Martin Dixon ruling out changes to the controversial program.

Mr Dixon said Christian education provider Access Ministries would receive an extra $200,000 a year from July 1 for training, administration and the supervision of volunteer instructors.

While other courses, including Baha'i, Greek Orthodox and Islamic, are also accredited, Access Ministries runs 96 per cent of special religious instruction classes in Victoria.
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The funding boost comes as Access Ministries called on Christians to take urgent action, saying its very foundation was being challenged by a court case that questioned the Education Department's guidelines on the teaching of faith in schools.

The agency called on Christians to write a letter of support for special religious instruction to Mr Dixon, Premier Ted Baillieu and their local MP.

''For many children, [Christian religious education] is their only introduction to the values that underpin a biblical understanding of God, the world, themselves and others,'' the group says on its website.

Primary students must attend religious education classes, which are run by volunteers, for half an hour every week, unless their parents choose for them to opt out.

Three parents are claiming in the Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission that the Education Department segregates children on religious grounds and discriminates by forcing children to opt out rather than opting in if they want religious education.

They are also questioning the interpretation of legislation that says religious instruction ''may be given'' in a government school, which the Education Department says means ''must be given''.

Mr Dixon ruled out changing the program to ''opt in'' rather than ''opt out'', or introducing ethics classes as a secular alternative, as is the case in NSW.

''It's not on our agenda at all,'' he said.

''Other than a flurry of discussion at the moment, it has never really been raised as an issue.''

Mr Dixon said volunteers understood that proselytising was not allowed under the special religious instruction guidelines. ''It is important for Access Ministries to be resourced well enough to offer training and also to monitor the instructors,'' he said.

One of the parents in the court case, Sophie Aitken, said her son was given Lego to play with at the back of the classroom after she and her husband chose to have him opt out of special religious instruction at Ivanhoe East Primary. ''I think he must have listened in to the special religious instruction, because I remember him coming home and saying things like ''God made the world'', said Ms Aitken, an atheist whose father was a Holocaust refugee.

''In a multicultural society like ours, I am appalled that our state schools would promote one particular faith over all other world views, and would remove children whose families have different beliefs from the class.''

Ms Aitken could not believe her son was told he was not allowed to work on a school project while the rest of the class had their religious instruction: ''This is clearly discriminatory.''

She said children should be taught by qualified teachers during school time, not volunteers from a church.

PatriotsReign · 04-07-2011, 03:46 PM

Are your comments "tongue-in-cheek"? Because by my calculations, the Australian tax rate is about the same as that in the United States.

I calculated how much federal taxes I'd have to pay on my salary in Australia and it came out to almost exactly what I paid in all forms of federal taxes last year (income tax, social security and medicare).

Can you state your persective on the relationship between Australia's tax rates and their unemployment rate?

In my eyes, their tax rates are similar to that in the US, but the economic picture in Australia is much brighter than ours and Europe. I highly doubt their unemployment rate is closely related to their federal tax structure. Economies are so complex that we'd need to consider everything, and that would be a long, LONG list of factors.

-Interest Rates
-Tariffs in imports
-population growth
-Age of population
-Is their economy self-sustaining?
-Home prices relative to income
-Supply of domestic natural resources

To name but a few...the list would probably include hundreds of other factors, so you opening post is rather vague and pointless.

Gainzo · 04-07-2011, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatriotsReign

Are your comments "tongue-in-cheek"? Because by my calculations, the Australian tax rate is about the same as that in the United States.

I calculated how much federal taxes I'd have to pay on my salary in Australia and it came out to almost exactly what I paid in all forms of federal taxes last year (income tax, social security and medicare).

Can you state your persective on the relationship between Australia's tax rates and their unemployment rate?

In my eyes, their tax rates are similar to that in the US, but the economic picture in Australia is much brighter than ours and Europe. I highly doubt their unemployment rate is closely related to their federal tax structure. Economies are so complex that we'd need to consider everything, and that would be a long, LONG list of factors.

-Tariffs in imports
-population growth
-Age of population
-Is their economy self-sustaining?
-Home prices relative to income
-Supply of domestic natural resources

To name but a few...the list would probably include hundreds of other factors, so you opening post is rather vague and pointless.

My comments are about a Country that has a high tax rate, plenty of wealthy people, and takes care of the "poor"

-Interest Rates - Low right now
-Tariffs in imports - Nope
-population growth - big
-Age of population - Old
-Is their economy self-sustaining? - Yes
-Home prices relative to income - Loaded question
-Supply of domestic natural resources* - plenty

*Apart from all the floods and stuff

PatriotsReign · 04-07-2011, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gainzo

My comments are about a Country that has a high tax rate, plenty of wealthy people, and takes care of the "poor"

-Interest Rates - Low right now
-Tariffs in imports - Nope
-population growth - big
-Age of population - Old
-Is their economy self-sustaining? - Yes
-Home prices relative to income - Loaded question
-Supply of domestic natural resources* - plenty

*Apart from all the floods and stuff

But their tax rates are about the same as we have in the USA....

Someone making $100,000 in Australia would pay about $25k or 25% in federal taxes. A person making the same amount would pay about $25k in the US as well (including all federal taxes).

Take a look at Australia's population and compare it to ours. Then look at poverty as a percent of their population and compare it to ours. Then we need to look at IMMIGRATION...and compare the US to Australia...it's just not as simple as you propose.

Gainzo · 04-07-2011, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatriotsReign

But their tax rates are about the same as we have in the USA....

Someone making $100,000 in Australia would pay about $25k or 25% in federal taxes. A person making the same amount would pay about $25k in the US as well (including all federal taxes).

Take a look at Australia's population and compare it to ours. Then look at poverty as a percent of their population and compare it to ours. Then we need to look at IMMIGRATION...and compare the US to Australia...it's just not as simple as you propose.

I believe Australia has a population of around 23 million. A little bit bigger than New York State and a little bit smaller than Texas. Why does Australia run so well and all of our 50 states suck? At least the state I live in is doing well.

Real World · 04-07-2011, 04:26 PM

Income tax rates are one thing, but overall tax burden is another. The flip to this simplistic point would be to post high tax rates from a country that is in shambles. I guess that would probalby be all of western europe.

Mrs.PatsFanInVa · 04-07-2011, 04:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatriotsReign

Take a look at Australia's population and compare it to ours. Then look at poverty as a percent of their population and compare it to ours. Then we need to look at IMMIGRATION...and compare the US to Australia...it's just not as simple as you propose.

While you're at it compare what they pay out of pocket for medical insurance (nothing) and how much vacation time they are guarenteed (4 weeks minimum) and how many weeks of paid maternity/paternity leave they get (18 weeks) and how their social security program works. Also check out how many of their universities are state supported (all but one.) Compare their expected life span with ours. (Their's is higher.) Compare their maternal/infant death rate with ours. (Ours is higher.)

Immigrants make up 12.81% of the US population.
Immigrants make up 19.93% of Australia's popullation.

List of countries by foreign-born population in 2005 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It all looks pretty simple to me.

Plus, you don't hear much about Australians whining about how much income tax they're paying.

Mostly you hear them talk about how happy they are.

***patsfan13*** · 04-07-2011, 07:05 PM

These rates are meaningless. If you want to make a comparison you should include the following.

Property tax? Do they have them?
State Taxes? Do they have them?
Sales Taxes? Do they have them?
Excise Taxes? Do they have them?
Municipal Taxes? Do they have them?
County Taxes? Do they have them?

What is the National debt of Australia relative of GDP?

What is Budget deficit of Australia relative to revenue?

Gainzo · 04-12-2011, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by patsfan13

These rates are meaningless. If you want to make a comparison you should include the following.

Property tax? Do they have them?
State Taxes? Do they have them?
Sales Taxes? Do they have them?
Excise Taxes? Do they have them?
Municipal Taxes? Do they have them?
County Taxes? Do they have them?

What is the National debt of Australia relative of GDP?

What is Budget deficit of Australia relative to revenue?

-Property Tax - Yes
-State Taxes - Yes
-Sales Taxes -Yes, GST Australia | Everything You Need to Know
-Excise Taxes - Yes, booze, smokes, gasoline, etc
-Municipal Taxes - No, as everything is covered by the States then the Feds
-County Taxes - No, as Australia doesn't have Counties

GDP was $1.2 trillion in 2009, the Budget deficit was $44 Billion.

For more on the Aussie budget and how it is in a much better place than ours check out this: Budget 2010 | Federal Budget 10 - Australia Budget | The Australian

The Brandon Five · 04-12-2011, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs.PatsFanInVa

While you're at it compare what they pay out of pocket for medical insurance (nothing) and how much vacation time they are guarenteed (4 weeks minimum) and how many weeks of paid maternity/paternity leave they get (18 weeks) and how their social security program works. Also check out how many of their universities are state supported (all but one.) Compare their expected life span with ours. (Their's is higher.) Compare their maternal/infant death rate with ours. (Ours is higher.)

You have to be careful when comparing infant mortality rates. Not everyone reports them in the same way.

Pajamas Media The Doctor Is In: Infant Mortality Comparisons a Statistical Miscarriage

Quote:

According to the way statistics are calculated in Canada, Germany, and Austria, a premature baby weighing <500g is not considered a living child.

But in the U.S., such very low birth weight babies are considered live births. The mortality rate of such babies — considered “unsalvageable” outside of the U.S. and therefore never alive — is extraordinarily high; up to 869 per 1,000 in the first month of life alone. This skews U.S. infant mortality statistics.

In the United States, all infants who show signs of life at birth (take a breath, move voluntarily, have a heartbeat) are considered alive.
...
The length of pregnancy considered “normal” is 37-41 weeks. In Belgium and France — in fact, in most European Union countries — any baby born before 26 weeks gestation is not considered alive and therefore does not “count” against reported infant mortality rates.

Those differences in how infant mortality are calculated also affect life expectancy figures.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mrs.PatsFanInVa

Immigrants make up 12.81% of the US population.
Immigrants make up 19.93% of Australia's popullation.

List of countries by foreign-born population in 2005 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It all looks pretty simple to me.

Plus, you don't hear much about Australians whining about how much income tax they're paying.

Mostly you hear them talk about how happy they are.

You do hear them raising questions about immigration, though.

Anti-immigration politician returns to forefront of Australian politics - Telegraph

I came across this (which I thought this was an interesting read) and it made me think of this thread.

How I lost faith in multiculturalism | The Australian

Quote:

In the formal immigration program, there should be a rigid adherence to skills qualifications so that the people who come here are well educated, easily employable and speak good English.

The inflow of illegal immigrants by boat in the north, almost all Muslim, mostly unskilled, should be stopped.

Within the formal refugee and humanitarian allocation of 13,500 places a year, a legitimate stress should be placed on need but also on the ability to integrate into Australian society.

And, finally, we simply should not place immigration officers in the countries with the greatest traditions of radicalism.