Australian Taxation system Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Australian Taxation system - Essay Example There are also state governments which control taxation taking place in the several states that are in the country. The last system of government present in Australia is the local governments. According to Macfarlane in his book â€Å"Australian Monetary Policy in the Last Quarter of the Twentieth Century†, it is evident that Australia has low taxation rates (Macfarlane 1998). Despite lower taxation rates, the governments still struggle to control the taxation system. Several forms of taxation exist in Australia. These include personal income taxes, capital gains taxes, fringe benefits, taxes, customs duty taxes, corporate taxes and goods and services taxes just to name a few of all the existing forms of taxes. As testified in the sections of the Australian constitution, all individuals both working and non-working and also companies are forced to pay taxes to all the levels of government: the federal government, the state governments and the local governments. Among the natio nal duties that the Australian government accomplishes with the income generated from taxation include the offering of services to the public and paying the public servants. The federal government often collects taxes from individuals and companies through the Australian Taxation Office which is an organization that helps the federal government collect revenue which is further paid to the various states. Australia as earlier mentioned has several forms of taxation.... Income taxes are the backbone of the Australian economy since they are the most critical and important source of revenue for the federal government. Provides income tax revenue that the federal government uses to make or accomplish several important tasks. It is also important to note that income taxation in Australia is done on individuals with constant income. Thus, the individuals depending on the working generation which mostly comprises of the young children and older do not pay income tax. In the words of Cortese C and Glynn J, in his journal â€Å"Taxation and the Australian Superannuation System†, â€Å"personal income tax in Australia is done on individuals and not on groups, families, organizations or companies† (Cortese and Glynn). Another form of taxation is the goods and services tax. In this form of taxation, the federal government often imposes value added tax on goods and services offered and provided all over the country. Business people in Australia po sses retail shops, wholesale shops, hardware shops and even supermarkets. In these businesses, when an individual buys goods for example clothes, food or any other stuffs, there are tax imposed on him or her. Like in other countries, small business men and women sell their goods and services directly to their customers. When the customers purchase the goods, value added tax is imposed on them. Though tax on goods and services is not much as the personal income tax, it also acts as a source of revenue for the federal government in Australia. The income got from the goods and services taxation by the local government is later distributed to the state governments which the state governments use to run their duties. Consequently, corporate tax is another form of taxation in Australia.