ACT taxpayers pay a higher proportion of their total income in federal income tax than people from other states and territories.
For every $10,000 in income tax the average Canberran pays, Northern Territorians are paying $7735 and Western Australians are paying $7970 and the average Australian is paying $8632.
This is revealed when you match yesterday’s Tax Office figures against Australian Bureau of Statistics figures on Gross State Product.
It is another indication that PAYE taxpayers are paying more than their fair share. The ACT has a higher proportion of people on PAYE than other states and territories.
The matching of both bureau’s figures makes the PAYE burden more stark.
When you use just the tax figures, you compare tax burden against (ital) stated (end ital) gross income. When you use gross state product figures you match income tax against (ital) all (end ital) income.
When, the ACT pays 13.16 per cent of its gross state product in federal personal income tax. The Northern territory pays least at 10.18 per cent.
In order the percentages are: ACT 13.16, NSW 11.76, Tas 11.67, SA 11.20, Vic, 11.19, Qld 11.16, WA 10.49, NT 10.18, Australia 11.36.
The difference in percentage points does not seem much, but when expressed around a $10,000 tax bill, the difference is significant and it highlights the need for the Tax office to do more work outside the PAYE system to make the system fairer.