Why Does The Australian Govt Tax The Sh_t Out Of People Who Choose To Have Savings Instead Of Own A Home?

By Increase Savings | Published: July 18, 2009

It seems to me like the Australian govt wants people to have debt! A mate of mine has quite a bit of savings and is getting some interest on it, but pays an absolute fortune away of it in tax. If she had a home and no savings, but had a mortgage, she would not pay as much tax, not so?

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4 Comments

  1. harley d
    Posted July 18, 2009 at 12:36 pm | Permalink

    Cause theyre greedy buggers and they have to get their hands on everything.

  2. hubertxi
    Posted July 18, 2009 at 2:50 pm | Permalink

    The Australian Government has always been a government that enjoys taxing income., not wealth. Of course, if they were to tax wealth, those people who owned a home would also complain.
    Governments throughout history have always taxed income.
    If they were to structure the tax system so as to actually be equitable, that would require a government to think and comprehend the real problems of the community.
    Alas, wer will probably never see such a thing.

  3. Ashlee
    Posted July 18, 2009 at 7:46 pm | Permalink

    It’s because it’s classed as income and all income is taxed. If she owned a home she’d be paying interest, perhaps at a higher rate but that’s the price of saving in Australia. If it’s a long-term savings plan, there are other ways to invest but they all come at some cost.

  4. Loz J
    Posted July 18, 2009 at 11:49 pm | Permalink

    She’s getting taxed because the interest she is earning on her savings counts towards income earned. If she is worried about this, she can invest her money in other ways so as to not pay as much tax. Automobiles and Art are two things that come to mind.

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