Chalmers this week revealed the cost of the tax cuts in their first four years had grown to $69 billion,in part due to the strength of the jobs market and higher wages for affected workers. In their first year of operation,when the government expects to run a budget deficit of $35.1 billion,they will cost $21.5 billion.
The cuts will deliver their largest benefit to people earning more than $200,000 a year.
But Albanese,during Wednesday’s traditional post-budget media blitz,said while the focus was on high-income earners,many people on modest wages would benefit from the stage three reforms.
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“Those measures begin at $45,000. If you’re on $45,000 … you don’t regard yourself as being wealthy,” he told ABC TV.
“We have no plans to change those measures. We haven’t given consideration to that.”
The budget revealed the nation’s tax-to-GDP ratio will reach 23.9 per cent next financial year,the highest rate since 2005-06. That ratio will fall when the tax cuts start in 2024,but,without them,they would reach a record high.