Social Services Minister Scott Morrison has moved quickly to hose down a suggestion from three Labor premiers that the Medicare levy be increased from 2% to 4% to boost government revenue.
Increasing the Medicare levy to 4% would add another 2% charge to the top marginal personal income tax rate and push it to 51%. Australia’s top marginal tax rate has not been at that level since 1986.
While the top marginal rate is currently set at 45%, taxpayers already pay a 2% Medicare levy plus the federal government’s temporary deficit levy of 2%, meaning the current effective tax rate is 49%.
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Eloise is an experienced business journalist and editor, who has held senior editorial roles at SmartCompany since 2014. Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on LinkedIn, and Twitter at @ellykeating.
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