Treasurer’s speech: The case for personal income tax cuts

The Treasurer Joe Hockey has outlined the case for change in Australia’s tax system, particularly personal income tax rates, in a recent speech.

Mr Hockey said the starting point for tax reform must be bracket creep, when people are pushed up into higher tax brackets as a result of inflation and rising wages.

Mr Hockey also said that the problem is that Australia relies too heavily on personal income tax. When combining personal income tax with corporate taxes, it makes up around 60 per cent of tax revenue – compared with an average of 34 per cent across the OECD.