Gavin R. Putland,  BE PhD

Monday, April 21, 2008 (Comment)

When $4 million for nothing isn't enough

Now let me get this straight. The Property Council of Australia is complaining that if the value of your land has risen from $6 million to $10 million since 2005, your land tax bill has not fallen in spite of cuts in the top marginal rate ("Land tax cuts won't bring savings", The Age, April 15).

Oh. So it's not good enough that you have grown $4m richer at society's expense, with no effort on your part and no change in your outgoings. You must also have a reduction in outgoings.

Which just goes to show that (a) greed knows no bounds, and (b) there is no proposition so absurd that it will not be peddled when there is money to be made by peddling it.

Fact: Whether your tax bill rises or falls, the market prices it in. Therefore, if your land value rises, you are better off regardless of what the tax implication might be.

[Letter rejected by The Age, April 15, 2008.]


Creative Commons License         Return to Contents
comments powered by Disqus