Rising tax take dulls covid hit to govt books

Rising tax take dulls covid hit to govt books
Staff reporters
The government’s books are still awash with red ink but unexpectedly strong consumer spending, company profitability and employment are continuing to keep the Crown’s finances in a better position than Treasury feared.Tax revenue rose to $53.59 billion in the seven months ended Jan 31, up 4.5% from the same period a year earlier, with $1.77b more filling the Crown’s coffers than Treasury officials predicted in their December forecasts.Not only did stronger than expected consumer spending mean the GST take was $900 million more...