Business of Government: killing the fiscal goose, merger possibilities, and more ...

Officials warned that taxing tourists too highly could put people off from coming here. (Image: Getty)

Wed, 11 Sep 2024

Killing the goose that laid the golden egg?A freshly released briefing paper to Tourism Minister Matt Doocey reveals that the Government ignored officials' advice to raise the International Visitor Levy (IVL) by a “moderate” 100% and plumped to raise it by nearly 200% instead.There's an estimated $250 million tourism funding gap, so ministers went for a levy of $100 (up from $35), which would cover about 90% of it.Officials advised that relying on the IVL to plug the gap probably wasn't fair, particularly as more than ha...

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