In the midst of a tax cut bidding war ahead of the federal election, debate recently turned to the question of whether the Turnbull Government's tax package is fair — not only to lower and middle-income earners, but also to women.
Ms O'Dwyer's claim is misleading. While it is accurate to say 86 per cent of female taxpayers have a taxable income of $90,000 or less, the argument that this is where the Government's "tax relief" is "focused" is problematic. Only the first tranche of measures, beginning this financial year, favour people with taxable incomes of $90,000 or less. It is, however, important to point out that very low-income earners do not benefit because they pay little or no tax (moreover, a greater proportion of these very low wage earners are women). Meanwhile, the second and third stages of the tax plan, beginning July 1, 2022 and July 1, 2024, unambiguously favour people on higher incomes. This holds using several measures to gauge the meaning of "focus", including the dollar value of the tax relief provided to different income groups; the share of the cost of the package apportioned to different income groups; the share of the tax burden carried by different income groups before and after the introduction of the tax package; and, the impact of the package on disposable incomes for different income groups. Fact Check does not make a judgment about the fairness or otherwise of the tax package. Nor does it make a judgment about the affordability of the plan; nor the Government's spending priorities. What is clear, however, is that only the first stage of the tax plan is focused on people with annual incomes up to $90,000. It is possible that, in using the word "focused", Ms O'Dwyer meant the group of taxpayers earning up to $90,000 were being prioritised by receiving the first tranche of tax relief. However, she did not make this clear. Taken in its entirety, over seven years, the bulk of the benefits of the plan will flow to people earning more than $90,000 and, at the end of this period, those earning more than $90,000 will carry a smaller share of the overall tax burden. A clear majority of these taxpayers are men.
Fact check: Is the Government's income tax relief focused on female taxpayers?
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