Aging Population and Tax Reform: Navigating the Challenges Ahead

Our tax system relies heavily on income tax from workers to fund services, more than most similar nations. This will be challenged as the population ages.

Losing the Low and Middle Income Tax Offset has had a big impact on lower income earners used to getting a rebate. Some are struggling without it.

We need genuine reform shifting taxes off incomes and onto areas like assets and capital gains. But vested interests and politics make reform incredibly difficult.

Ideas like increasing tax-free thresholds and taxing land speculation exist. But there's been an inability to push reform through despite multiple reviews.

With demographic changes, an argument that more fairly spreads the tax burden is unavoidable. But human nature means losers from change catalyze opposition.