Opinion & Commentary
Levy a $750 cup of coffee
Making the price of a product appear cheaper than the reality is a common marketing technique. How often have you heard that something will cost you just a dollar a day? Politicians have learned the same craft. In selling his flood tax, Wayne Swan says it will cost a typical taxpayer no more than a cup of coffee a week.
Perhaps I am just naive, but aren't we entitled to hope for better from our governments than the tricks of commercial marketing? Politicians whose base instinct is to tax and spend have developed a language that is well suited to their purpose.
Then there is the practice of talking about tax and spending changes as if they are equivalent. In recent federal budgets, tax increases have been counted as savings, the same as spending cuts. This kind of language betrays an attitude that government has first claim on your income and will determine in its generosity how much of it you can keep.
For the record, if your taxable income is $80,000, the flood tax will cost you $150; at $100,000, it will cost you $250; at $150,000, it will cost you $750; and so on. If anyone really wants to trivialise the flood tax, why stop at a cup of coffee a week? It would be as accurate to say ``less than 50c a day''. And what will 50c buy these days? Not even a banana!
Robert Carling is a fellow at the Centre for Independent Studies.
