freediver
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http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23426874-5014046,00.html
HIGH-INCOME earners have been pocketing more than twice as much in lucrative tax offsets as lower- and middle-income earners.
But many of these lop-sided tax breaks - including the childcare rebate, baby bonus and superannuation offsets - may survive the government razor gang despite pressure to find billions of dollars in budget savings.
Analysis by The Australian reveals that almost one in three taxpayers on between $150,001 and $500,000 received big-ticket tax offsets in 2005-06. The average handout to the elites was $2241 - double the national average of $1043.
However, for ordinary workers on $50,001-$60,000, the typical benefit was just $938, a study of the latest official taxation statistics shows.
The analysis looked at 10 big-ticket tax offsets available to families and seniors, including the 30 per cent childcare and health rebates, baby bonus, various superannuation tax offsets, spouse tax offsets and the mature-age workers tax offset.
Kevin Rudd and his senior ministers have repeatedly ruled out spreading the budget pain to working families, with payments such as the former Howard government's baby bonus guaranteed even before the razor gang process is completed.
Senior ministers draw comfort from the reaction to last year's election tax platform, which deferred personal tax cuts for the top 2 per cent of earners on more than $180,000 a year.
But the recent run of statements from Mr Rudd ruling out cuts to the baby bonus and payments to seniors and pensioners raises questions about how far Labor is prepared to unwind the handouts of the previous government.
One of the glaring contradictions in the taxation statistics is the distribution of tax offsets between the top, middle and bottom rungs of the ladder.
Those on more than $100,000 a year comprised just 5.1 per cent of taxpayers in 2005-06, but they claimed 24.3 per cent, or $1.868billion, of the $7.676 billion in total tax offsets.
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