Revealed: The staggering amount working Aussies are now paying in tax

Working Australians now typically pay more than $18,000 a year in income tax, with government revenues rising much faster than population growth.

During the 2022-2023 fiscal year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government collected $278.39 billion in income taxes.

This represented 45 percent of the Commonwealth’s $618.227 billion in revenue.

The 14.9 per cent annual increase was much steeper than population growth of 2.4 per cent as wage growth boosted tax collections, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Tuesday showed.

Because Australia has 15.13 million taxpayers, this left an average income tax of $18,395.

But that was far from the only tax on individuals: Health insurance tax revenues rose 10.2 percent to $22.273 billion.

Another $4.147 billion was collected from benefits on items such as a company car.

In total, taxes levied on individuals amounted to $304.811 billion – or 49 percent of the federal government’s total tax revenue.

The 10 percent goods and services tax raised another $86.274 billion – or 14 percent of tax revenue.

Corporations paid $154.883 billion in taxes – or a quarter of the Commonwealth’s revenue.

The Treasury’s Intergenerational Report warned in August that Australians would pay more in income tax unless higher immigration brought in more working-age taxpayers to offset the aging population.

“As the population ages, the personal tax base is expected to decline further, in line with the expected decline in labor force participation,” the report said.

During the 2022-2023 budget year, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government collected $278.39 billion in income taxes – an increase of 14.9 percent

‘In the absence of policy change, the projections show increasing dependence on personal income tax.

“Taxpayers as a percentage of total population have fallen since the peak in 2005-2006, despite a similar employment-to-population ratio.”

The Treasury Department still expects personal tax revenues to grow from 12 percent of gross domestic product in 2022-23 to just over 14 percent in 2062-63.

Only 12 percent of Australians aged 70 and over pay income tax, while this group now makes up 12.2 percent of the total population.