BillionaIres Tax
Billionaires use complex schemes to avoid paying tax, donate millions to the Liberal and Labor parties and have too much power over our democracy. Australia’s richest people have seen their wealth nearly double since the pandemic hit.
The richest Australian, Gina Rinehardt, has more than doubled her wealth, from $16B to $36B during Covid
The Greens plan includes:
- A 6% annual tax on the global net wealth of Australia’s 122 billionaires.
- A 6% annual tax on the net value of Australian assets owned by foreign billionaires whose net holdings of Australian assets is greater than $1 billion.
This would raise $48 billion over the decade to pay for the services and jobs that Australians need.
Calculations independently confirmed by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Tycoon "Super Profits" Tax
Over the last ten years, corporations have made record profits – and profits have grown twice as fast as wages.
Despite making record profits, 1 in 3 big corporations still pays no tax.
The Greens plan includes:
- A 40% super profits tax on corporations with more than $100 million in turnover in Australia. This tax would apply to both Australian companies and the Australian share of a multinational company's operations.
- Restore the mining super tax as originally designed by the Henry Tax Review.
- Fix up the petroleum super profits tax so that multinational oil and gas corporations don’t get to reap mega profits off publicly owned resources.
This would raise $430 billion over the decade to pay for the services and jobs that Australians need. Calculations independently confirmed by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Corporate tax avoidance
Tax avoidance from corporations is costing Australia billions every year. Many corporations offshore their profits tax free while some multimillionaires are paying less tax than the average nurse. This money could be going to schools, hospitals and essential services we all need.
1 in 3 big corporations pays no tax in Australia.
The Greens plan includes:
- Stop the artificial shifting of debt to Australia to increase tax deductions.
- Stop tax deductions for royalties paid to other arms of the same company.
- Establish a public register of beneficial owners to see who really owns what.
- Publish basic information on the tax paid by companies earning over $50 million.
- Require the ATO to publish the details of the settlement of tax disputes with companies
- Back a global push for a minimum corporate tax rate of 25%
These measures will raise $4.5 billion over the decade.
Calculations independently confirmed by the Parliamentary Budget Office.
Repay JobKeeper
During the pandemic, over 700 big corporations, including foreign multinationals, recorded increased profits for investors while at the same time receiving JobKeeper payments and other government support.
Louis Vuitton, owned by one of the ten richest people in the world, was given $6 million while their sales in Australia increased.
The Greens plan includes:
- Companies earning over $50 million who received JobKeeper payments while remaining profitable or paying executive bonuses will be required to repay the money.
No more polluter profiteering
Big coal, oil and gas corporations must pay for the damage their pollution does. Right now it is the rest of us who have to pay for climate impacts and extreme weather.
75% of the coal and gas extracted in Australia is exported overseas. This is Australia’s single biggest contribution to the global climate crisis. Without a plan for coal and gas exports, there is no plan for climate change.
The climate crisis is causing, and will continue to cause, billions of dollars of damage to businesses, infrastructure and nature.
The Greens plan includes:
- Ending the handouts for coal, oil and gas corporations
- Make gas exporters actually pay royalties for gas and a tax on their profits
- Bringing back the carbon price,
- Coal export levies of $3 per tonne on steel making coal and $1 per tonne on thermal coal, with a phase out on thermal coal by 2030.
- Terminate the Government's ineffective Climate Solutions Fund that pays big polluters to reduce their emissions.
Make The Polluters Pay For The Damage They Are Doing (p.24)
The Greens do not support a ‘tax cap’ of limiting tax receipts as a share of GDP.
Make income tax fair
Australia’s progressive income tax system has been at the foundation of the idea of a fair go.
But the Stage 3 tax cuts are deeply unfair. The Top 1% of income earners will get as much benefit as the bottom 60% of income earners combined.
Under the Stage 3 tax cuts, workers in many industries will be in the same tax bracket as their bosses who get paid four times as much.
The Greens plan includes:
- Repealing the Stage 3 tax cuts
- Introducing a tax guarantee for the top 1% (a ‘Buffet rule’)
- Introducing a new 60% tax rate for people earning over $1 million
- Increasing the effective tax free threshold to $32,100
Banking for people, not for profit
Government and regulators have both failed to give other players in the market a fair run. Bank executives’ first priority are the banks’ profits and their own pay cheque that is linked to these profits. And despite the first recession in decades, the major banks are back to raking in mega profits.
The Greens have a plan to reform the banking system so that it operates in the best interests of people, not for corporate profits.
The Royal Commission uncovered a shocking degree of rot in Australian banks. Much of this was a result of ‘vertical integration’.
The Greens plan includes:
- A level playing field which ensures regional banks, credit unions and co-ops are able to offer competitive services
- Returning responsibility for regulation of the sale of retail financial products to the ACCC
- Keeping responsible lending laws, and increasing consumer protections
Together, we’re powerful.
We're fighting to get real climate action, make the big corporations and billionaires pay their fair share of tax, and get dental and mental health in Medicare. The Greens are fighting for your future.