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Darren Churchill ACT- Media Release: 26th February, 2010: Proposed police powers laws labelled “Draconian” by Democrats
- Media Release: 22nd January 2010: ACT Democrats join Great Australian Internet Blackout.
- Media Release: 20th January 2010: Canberrans must have a guarantee that South Australian Movie Laws won’t be copied by ACT Assembly, say Democrats.
- Media Release: 14th January 2010: Canberrans Need Action Not Words in Opposing Internet Censorship, say Democrats
- Media Release: 02 December: Canberrans Let Down as Humphries Toes Party Line, say Democrats
- Begin Rant – Kathryn Crosby
- Begin Rant: The disenfranchised and forgotten Australians
- Begin Rant: Cheesecake and the path not taken
- Begin Rant: The dangers for rural health in Rudd’s proposed health care takeover
- Begin Rant: You really can’t get mad cow from a meat pie.
- Begin Rant: Internet Censorship reflective of Rudd’s wider control agenda
Liberating the property market
Australia may end transfer duties on real estate purchases and replace this state tax with a larger share of federal income taxes, an idea floated by Don Henry’s Tax Review.
I say Yes! and No!
I embrace the end of transfer duties – they impose substantial costs on homebuyers and seriously impede the velocity of sales. They make it much much harder to trade one house for another when employment moves or family size changes. This handbrake on change imposes major economic inefficiencies, the weight of which falls solely on individuals.
They should be replaced with a significant and progressive Land Tax, which discourages hoarding or land-banking, encourages the efficient use of land and buildings, and is impossible to avoid.
The states already impose Land Tax at a low rate, so appropriate legislation already exists. All that is required is a schedule adjustment and the elimination of home-owner exemptions.
And I firmly believe state governments need their own revenue sources. Making them even more dependent on the federal government weakens our democracy.
It is important to note that I am not advocating a tax increase, merely the replacement of an inefficient behavior-distorting tax with one that encourages good resource useage.
In some US states, their land taxes are hypothecated to meet the cost of education. I don’t advocate the dedication of income this way, rather point to the scale of possible state government revenues.
Tags: australia, Australian Democrats, economic inefficiencies, federal income taxes, house, Land Tax, mortgage, property market, real estate purchases and, revenues, state government, state tax, Tax Review
