How close the government came to bringing in a wealth tax

The government was forced to face the complexity of putting a wealth tax in place in the lead-up to the budget. (Image: Getty)

Pattrick Smellie

Wed, 12 Jul 2023

Government officials were working on a wealth tax package until two months before the May 18 budget, before a decision not to proceed.On the table was a package that would have introduced a tax-free threshold for all taxpayers up to their first $10,000 of income and a 1.5% tax on the value of individuals’ assets above a $5 million threshold.The tax-free threshold would have delivered every taxpayer about $20 a week.The wealth tax calculation would have excluded the family home to raise an estimated $3.4 billion in the 2024-25 tax year, ri...

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