JOE HOCKEY TALKED THE TALK ON SIMPLIFYING TAX IN THE COURIER MAIL BUT WILL HE WALK THE WALK

Treasurer Joe Hockey appears to be committed to simplifying Australia's taxation system, judging by his column in the Courier Mail on the 14th August, 2015.

His reference to it as being 'complex and archaic' and the comparison he made to tax  reforms in New Zealand and Denmark is an indication that Hockey is waking up to the fact that Australia is way behind the 8-ball with taxation in general and the system is badly in need of repair.

Now it's time for Hockey to match his pragmatic rhetoric with action. In a round about way he acknowledged that there are too many taxes in Australia, without saying so directly. Australia is the capital of tax overkill in the western world. It's ridiculous how many different taxes there are, the tax system is a duplicated mess,
simple as that.

As Hockey himself acknowledged, compliance costs for taxpayers in managing their tax affairs have skyrocketed over the past decade. They've skyrocketed because there's too many taxes that everyone is having to comply with.

Simple is best Joe. Now that I've got your attention, if you want to simplify the tax system, it's simple - Australia should have two taxes and two taxes only - GST set at 15% and income tax capped at 15%. Do your mathematics, it would work a charm. Australians would have more money to spend, GST revenue would skyrocket, everyone, including you, would be a winner.