Wealthy can pay more

The Age Letters 01.03.15

Outline
 Vocabulary

& Background
 Letter & analysis:
Author, audience & relationship (Tenor)
Purpose, Tone, Patterns of Grammar, Language
 Evaluation
 Discussion

Vocabulary


flat income tax: a tax system that applies the same tax rate to every taxpayer regardless of income level and type.



inheritance tax: a levy paid by a person who inherits money or property or a tax on the estate
(money and property) of a person who has died



wealth tax: a levy on the total value of personal assets, such as owner-occupied housing; cash, bank deposits, money funds, and savings in insurance and so forth http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/tax

Background


Joe Hockey (the Liberal Government )



Treasurer of Australia (9/2013---present) presented a commonwealth budget in 2014, which triggered a wave of objection due to the plan of budget cuts in areas including health, education, welfare and so forth

http://www.thevine.com.au/life/news/joe-hockey-wont-make-a-budget-forecast-with-your-dumb-treasury-figures-for-jerks-10-things-20130806244530 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2682077/Thousands-turn-protest-budget-measures.html Letter


Joe Hockey tells us that for our children's sake, we must tighten their belts to bring the budget into surplus. Logic tells us that to achieve this he must reduce expenditure or increase revenue or both. On the revenue side, however, the government says we already pay too much tax. So services must be reduced. But some Australians can afford to pay a lot more tax than they do.
According to one list, in 2014 the 10 richest Australians were collectively worth about $73 billion. The richest 0.1 per cent of
Australians own a hugely disproportionate share of the nation's wealth and their share is growing. This cannot be in the national interest. Yet Australia has a relatively flat income tax regime and is one of the few developed nations with neither wealth nor inheritance taxes. Sooner or later, we must tackle the inequality issue. And taxation is the way to do it.
Peter Lynch, Kew

Analysis1


Author: an Australian man, with knowledge about tax and concerning about government policy. 

Audience: cyber readers who are interested in domestic tax policy or news



Relationship: Impersonal/ common concerns



purpose: to express his dissatisfaction with the current tax policy /to complain unfair tax regime / to raise a wider awareness of this issue

Tone: strong, critical, minor ironic, serious


Joe Hockey tells us that for our children's sake, we must tighten their belts to bring the budget into surplus. Logic tells us that to achieve this he must reduce expenditure or increase revenue or both. On the revenue side, however, the government says we already pay too much tax. So services must be reduced. But some Australians can afford to pay a lot more tax than they do.
According to one list, in 2014 the 10 richest Australians were collectively worth about $73 billion. The richest 0.1 per cent of
Australians own a hugely disproportionate share of the nation's wealth and their share is growing. This cannot be in the national interest. Yet Australia has a relatively flat income tax regime and is one of the few developed nations with neither