THIS past week, Thursday to be precise, marked the date for 2017 on which Australians were no longer working for the government and began working for themselves.
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"It has taken 102 days for Australians to pay off this year's annual tax burden," Centre for Independent Studies economist Michael Potter said.
"The average Australian has sacrificed $19,200 to pay for government services at all levels - federal, state and local.
"Despite taking 28 per cent of the wealth created by each working Australian, this level of taxation is not enough to cover rising government expenditure.
"Last year, the federal and state governments combined ran deficits of roughly $43 billion and are effectively borrowing to finance day-to-day operations.
"With these deficits we can look forward to working even longer to pay off taxes down the track. Since 2011 ‘Tax Freedom Day’ has grown steadily later.
"This year, Tax Freedom Day falls one day later than it did last year. Present forecasts indicate little relief for taxpayers in the coming years, with Tax Freedom Day set to be later every year.
"Governments urgently need to arrest the growth of spending to alleviate the pressure taxation places on Australians," Mr Potter said.
- Michael Potter is a Research Fellow in the Economics Program at the Centre for Independent Studies
