Electorate of Sydney’s tax cut would total $259m while all of Tasmania’s would be $221m, Australia Institute says

This article is more than 1 year old

This article is more than 1 year old

People in the electorate of Sydney would receive more from the Coalition’s income tax package than all the residents of Tasmania combined, according to a new analysis.

The Australia Institute’s geographical analysis of the tax cuts finds that residents of the Sydney area would get tax cuts of $652 per person, followed by Melbourne on $564.

Residents of central and north Queensland would get $456 each on average while those in South Australia would receive $416 and Tasmanians only $367 per person.

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Under the Coalition’s plan in the 2019 budget, those earning more than $41,000 would receive a tax cut in 2022 and by 2024 everyone earning between $45,000 to $200,000 would pay a marginal rate of 30%.

The Australia Institute has previously found that the Coalition’s tax package is regressive and would deliver a $77bn windfall for high-income earners out of a measure worth $147bn.

In the analysis, published on Monday, The Australia Institute used modelling done by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling to estimate which electorates and regions will be the big winners under the entire package of income tax cuts.

It found that in the electorate of Sydney, taxpayers would receive a total income tax cut of $259m in 2024-25. The entire state of Tasmania would receive $221m.

Other electorates where taxpayers will be big winners are: North Sydney with a total $214m tax cut or $1,074 per person; Wentworth with a total gain of $208m or $1,140 per person; Macnamara with a $198m tax cut or $930 per person; and Melbourne with a total $185m tax cut or $744 per person.

The electorates with the lowest per capita tax cut are: Hinkler in Queensland with $294 per person, Lyne in New South Wales with $297 and Lyons in Tasmania with $303.

The analysis also reveals disparities within regions. While residents in Sydney get $652 on average per person, that increases to $831 in eastern and northern Sydney and falls to $463 in western Sydney.

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Labor and the Coalition have agreed on tax cuts for middle income earners from 2019 to 2022 but Labor has not supported the Coalition’s plan to raise the 19% tax bracket threshold from $41,000 to $45,000 from 2022 then flatten tax brackets from 2024. Blocking those measures would raise $230bn over 10 years.

Last week Bill Shorten told a coal export terminal worker in Central Queensland he would “look at” reducing taxes for workers earning $250,000 and was then forced to defend supporting higher taxes on high income earners.

On Monday Scott Morrison told reporters in Perth that the Coalition is “spending responsibly” so it can “keep your taxes under control”.

Morrison attacked Shorten’s plan to spend $9.9bn over a decade to raise early childhood educators’ wages by 20%, suggesting Labor is “going to tax people more to send the money to them”.