Budget incentives to increase investment are expensive, poorly targeted and will do little to improve productivity

As Australia continues to experience the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and looks to economic recovery, the arts and entertainment sector should be a key target for economic support. The arts and entertainment sector employs an even mix of women and men, and employs many more people per million dollars of turnover than industries like

Key results The Australia Institute surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,000 Australians about their attitudes towards tax and budget priorities. The results show that most Australians agree with positive statements about taxation, and would prefer additional government spending to tax cuts or deficit reduction. Seven in ten (69%) Australians agree with Oliver Wendell Holmes’

Implementing the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety will require additional Commonwealth funding of at least $10 billion per year, and there are several revenue tools which the government could use to raise those funds. While the Royal Commission’s 148 recommendations were not explicitly costed, the Centre’s report shows that

Budget policy has traditionally advantaged men over women. This paper makes seven recommendations on how to improve women’s economic security and use the budget as a tool to reduce gender inequality.

In 2020-21, Australian Federal and state governments provided a total of $10.3 billion worth of spending and tax breaks to assist fossil fuel industries. The $7.8 billion cost of the fuel tax rebate alone is more than the budget of the Australian Army. Over the longer term, $8.3 billion is committed to subsidising gas extraction,

Modelling from the Centre for Social Research and Methods on income, wealth and gender distribution of negative gearing, CGT discount, super tax concessions and excess franking credits shows that these tax concessions overwhelmingly benefit high-income, high-wealth men.

In March 2020, the Government lifted almost half a million Australians (470,000) out of poverty, including 75,000 children, by introducing the coronavirus supplement worth $550 per fortnight.

The Australia Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission on the COAG Reform Fund Amendment (No Electric Vehicle Taxes) Bill 2020 (the No EV Tax Amendment).

A study of 33 OECD countries shows that Australia could substantially lift its unemployment payments without any meaningful disincentives for working. The Government has argued that Australia’s internationally low unemployment payments are needed, in part as an incentive to encourage the unemployment to look for and accept work. This briefing note tests the Government’s theory

The Australia Institute surveyed nationally representative samples of over 1,000 Australians each month from August about what they think the most important national political issue is right now. In every month, more Australians identified the economy as the most important national political issue than any other issue (between 37% and 48%). Health was second-most likely

A comparison of the impact on employment of child care expenditure and income tax cuts of an equivalent net cost to the budget. The clear superiority of childcare expenditure in stimulating economic activity reflects the concentration of the benefit on a cohort with much greater capacity for labour supply response.

Budgets are a key part of Australia’s democratic system, with budget papers giving the public a valuable opportunity to see how much money is spent and on what. Some items in federal budgets are not made public, however, and are marked ‘not for publication’ or ‘nfp’. Often, items claimed as nfp are still being negotiated,

Bringing forward stage 2 of the tax cuts is ineffective stimulus. Up to 12 times as many jobs could be created if an equivalent amount of money was spent on labour intensive industries.

It has been claimed that higher levels of taxation weaken the economy but a comparative study of 188 economies shows that higher levels of taxation are correlated with higher average income. The positive correlation also exists with other measures of economic wellbeing. Please note: this report was updated on 8th December 2020, correcting an error

The benefit from bringing forward personal income tax cuts would mostly go to high income men. Despite recession job losses affecting women more than men, $2.19–$2.28 of the tax cut will go to men for every $1 that goes to women.

There hasn’t been any wide-ranging public discussion concerning the need for reform of the Tasmanian state taxation system, or what such reform might look like, since the State Tax Review Panel process initiated by then-Treasurer Michael Aird in 2010, and which was abruptly terminated in November 2011.  Tasmania’s state tax system contributes a smaller proportion

New research from The Australia Institute has shown more voters want to see Government spending going towards supporting those looking for work and spending on infrastructure and services than for it to be used to hand out income tax cuts.

Bringing forward personal income tax cuts would see more than 50% of benefits go to the highest 10% of income earners and 79%-91% of benefits to the top 20% of earners. Just 3%-4% of the benefit would go to the lower half of all income earners. High income earners would save some or all of

Rather than dumping JobKeeper, we can reform it in such a way that more of the payment is clawed back by the government and that can be done by making it taxable at a much higher rate than other business income. This can be achieved very quickly, merely by increasing the rate at which JobKeeper

The health response to COVID-19 has resulted in large increases in measured unemployment and underemployment as well as large falls in the total number of hours worked. While the size of these labour market effects has been widely discussed, the gender distribution of these impacts has not.

New research from The Australia Institute has found that the economy and climate change are the two most important issues for voters in the seat of Eden-Monaro, with a majority of voters saying economic stimulus following the COVID-19 crisis should also address and build our resilience to climate change.

Treasury forecasts unemployment rising to 10 per cent in the June quarter and that without the JobKeeper allowance unemployment would be 5 per cent higher at 15 per cent. The Government responded with a series of spending packages with a cumulative total of $193.6 billion. That inevitably means more deficit spending over and the next

COVID-19 had an immediate economic and social effect on all Australians. As businesses shut, state borders closed and millions of Australians lost all or part of their income, State Governments stepped in and provided immediate relief. This report compiles state government spending in support of existing businesses and community organisations in response to the COVID-19