Saturday, February 07, 2009

I Won't Get a $950 Tax Bonus

According to an article in the Australian Financial Review today, I won't be eligible for the Australian government's $A950 stimulus payment. Only people who paid tax and earned less than $A80,000 will get the full payment - with reduced amounts for those earning between $A80 and $A100k. I paid negative tax in the 2007-8 tax year, so no bonus for me. There are a bunch of other special classes of bonus, but I don't qualify for any of them either.

The bottom line is that poor people who don't fall into a special category - for example students - won't be getting a payment from the government in either this stimulus package or the previous one. I don't understand the logic of this. It isn't as if the poor don't vote in Australia (unlike other countries such as the US), as we have compulsory voting.

At least Snork Maiden should get a payment.

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