Gotta go – I SHOULDN’T be here – Endeavouring to keep up with what you blokes talk about is so far beyond me it takes too much time. But I’ve learned a lot.

Stay clear of Euro debt now, China and Oz soon maybe, but consider holding a bit of platinum and palladium? – And No, I still don’t like gold at these prices.

Cheers to all,
Ned

So Rudd, Swan and the Unions reckon the new tax won’t cost any jobs. The mining companies say it will.

Now who do you reckon might actually know better?

Of course the tax will mean less jobs! It changes the whole playing field!

http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/time-will-cut-through-the-frenzy-surrounding-the-henry-review-20100502-u1br.html

However one reason we don’t get more out of our resources is because we are not very bright, we don’t value add, we don’t build the ships that carry the ore overseas, we import 70% of all mining equipment, we import most mining technology…the list goes on.

Anyway I totally agree that we should use the proceeds from any mining boom to make the economy more robust..we don’t want to end up like Nauru!

This is just another back down and all hype and no action that is typical of this Government.

Looks like when Rudd said of John Howard that he squandered the mining boom – what he meant to say was that he did not tax them enough!

I would rather see the existing revenues from the miners go into a sovereign wealth fund. Or go directly to debt elimination. What is proposed is not to reduce debt but to increase spending.

It just does not seem the right way to go about things.

Many of the good things proposed seem to have gone into the growing “too hard” basket. Or have been left so that they have more things to announce in the lead up to the election…

This mining tax, if it passes the Senate, will come back to bite Australia.

Because if Rudd does this and housing and jobs become stressed, he will look like an absolute fool. You must never destabilize banking and housing or you’ll be 6 feet under in bailouts.

If the banking system needs a big bailout in the future, then Rudd will tax the big 4 in full force lol.

Not advice, just gambling and speculation. Always see a financial advisor for decisions etc.

Anon the problem with the new mining tax is that we are in fact punishing companies for being good at what they do. If the Government wanted to tap into the boom it could have taken equity in the projects or started a fund to invest in mining companies instead of handing out dollars for imported pink batts. We seem intent on destroying any large successful companies in Australia for reason’s I don’t quite understand.

If Australian’s want to tap into the mining boom then they could have purchased shares in BHP or Rio instead of flying to Bali.

Also, why aren’t banks who make super profits also taxed in the same way?

Its not right the mining sector be booming and raking in record profits, whilst we’ve got alot of sectors in zombie mode. Lots of people hurting out there, lets hope this helps more than just the government!

Not advice, just gambling and speculation. Always see a financial advisor for decisions etc.

Given the government’s lack of response to it, I’ll take my time and digest it all slowly. But core recommendations I’m picking up would make it seem like the sort of system I would have killed for as a young bloke – Stuff like the first $25K of income is tax free (so if there’s mum and dad both working you’ve got $50K coming in tax free!); And a flat rate of 35% after that up to $180K each or somesuch – Heck, no disincentives there to work and save; With income on your savings (bank deposit interest, rental property income etc) being taxed at a 40% discount; And the the tax rate on your super earnings all being cut to 7.5%.

If someone actually has a work and save ethic, it sounds like the basis of a very good deal to me?

He close his article with: “There’s a chance the government might cherry-pick a couple of voter-friendly ideas from the review for an airing on budget night. Heck, they might try some actual reform once the election is out of the way – but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Yep, pretty much as I was saying back in September.

http://taxreview.treasury.gov.au/content/FinalReport.aspx?doc=html/publications/papers/Final_Report_Part_1/chapter_12.htm

Swan ruled out death duties/bequest taxes anyway (as well as a bunch of other stuff):

http://www.treasurer.gov.au/DisplayDocs.aspx?doc=pressreleases/2010/028.htm&pageID=003&min=wms&Year=&DocType=

In answer to the question “Ken Henry and his tax review: should we be worried?” the answer is No, Henry seems to have given them the basics of a sane and sensible tax system on a platter? So the biggest worries we’ve got are our idiot pollies not doing the things that are in there and doing all their usual ad hoc vote grubbing stuff instead.
SNAFU …

As to your comment above – 100% agreed!