How much do you really pay in tax?

The Budget’s around the corner and income tax is already being debated.

Income tax is easy to calculate. But filing your taxes and sending your dues the ATO is only the beginning. Australians are taxed not only on their earnings but also when they spend and when they save. Sometimes we even pay tax on taxes.  

A report published today by the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance and the Liberal Democratic Party found that Victorians lose approximately 45 per cent of their potential take-home earnings to tax. A minimum-wage worker would make close to $62,000 instead of less than $39,000. Now that would be a living wage. 

The typical Victorian, earning the state’s 2019 average income of $63,440, costs their employer about…