The government should not punish low income earners with punitive taxes. To those of us who understand the tax and transfer system, the figures attached in comments below are not surprising. 👇 The marginal rate of tax on pensioners and the unemployed on incomes between $18,200 and $65,000 is so prohibitively high that it discourages people from working despite the fact they can’t make ends meet. I’ve also pointed out how it punishes young people starting their careers especially apprentices. The problem is nothing new - it’s decades old and entrenches the welfare and poverty trap. No major party is willing to do something about this. People First will. By lifting the tax free threshold to $45,000 it means pensioners can earn up to almost $15,000 over and above the pension before they pay any tax. People should not be taxed below the poverty line. Not only does it make it harder to make ends meet, it discourages people from continuing to work or looking for work. If we want to get Australia back on track we need to ensure our low income earners are protected. It’s why we will always put the Australian People First. Check out our policies at Peoplefirstparty.au ••••••••••••••••• “A new report exposes how the tax system and Age Pension eligibility rules combine to send some part-pensioners' incomes backwards and strip more than two-thirds of the income of many others. It found a pensioner with $200,000 in super earning between $15,000 and $65,000 from employment annually paid an effective marginal tax rate above 66 per cent. For a pensioner earning between $25,000 and $30,000, their effective marginal tax rate was 77 per cent, while if they earned $65,000, their effective tax rate would be 106 per cent.” - @gerardrennick70