Should Over-65’s Pay More Tax?

If you look at what age the over 65's starting paying tax and the number of benefits they never received or breaks that the current generations receive the privelged groups such as the Gratten Institute might actually do some good for the country. I wonder if the "white collared professionals" including public servants, lega; and medical professions would be keen to give up their benefits. Those of us who have had to work outside doing manual labour without subsidised holidays during their working life, paying tax from when we were 15 might be persuaded to consider this but not with the extravagant salaries earnt by these professions 

I believe before you start taking benefits from the over 65's look at what the politicians get. The massive fringe benefit when they leave parliament for the Gold Club, being able to access their super before they turn 65-70, their massive health care savings. Maybe a way they can cut some costs would be control the health funds with the amount they charge/increase each year, make every Australian contribute in some way towards their health cut out all the free hospital make every Australian pay health care. Yes there are pensioners who have dropped out or never had health cover but I'm a pensioner and I still pay a high price to cover myself for hospital so I think they can too, I'm not a self funded retiree so I'm on a budget like everyone else. Stop paying money to overseas pensioners, if they want an Australian pensioner let them come back here and live also stop paying money to refugees they come and work like they did before our welfare benefits became so attractive that everyone wants to live here because they are on easy street. Their are people out their who genuinely need help and they should get it but some who just wrought they system by any means is totally unfair to the ones who have to pay high costs to cover them. Politicians should look at themselves before picking on the over 65's. That is only my opinion. 

It's always the seniors they want to hit, what about the young ones who go straight on the dole from school, my husband is on a part pension and is working until I get the pension I am entitled to job search but have decided not to take it as we are managing quite well. there are lots of people taking job search and working at home My husband and I worked and payed tax we are by no means rich but are happy with our lot, but that may change if some of the perks (so called) are dropped people need to remember they will all be old one day and may have to go on the pension no one knows what the future holds. 

The Grattan Institute is manned by people who obviously will be so well off at retirement age that they will have no need for a pension, therefore they will not be affected by any of these crazy ideas they come up with and therefore do not have a personal interest in the results as they will affect somebody else. So long as it is not in their backyard. Unfortunately they seem to have the ear of our pitiful politicians and somewhere down the track after a few years of brain washing the public all the crazy ideas will become fact. I believe that the names of the authors of these sort of crazy ideas should be made public and their personal circumstances declared so that the Australian public can see where they are coming from rather than from the very impersonal "The Grattan Institute". 

Older generations have more than paid their dues. We received no child support benefits, we paid for everything we had with no handouts from anyone. We lived frugally because we had to. Our family homes (if we were lucky enough to buy one) were paid for with after tax dollars. To think that they would even consider taxing the family home is outrageous. Perhaps we should all sit on welfare payments, expect to get free or minimal rent housing for life subsidised by the government, join the waiting list for public hospitals etc. etc. etc. If the family home is ever included - we, along with many others, would sell up and leave 'the (not so) lucky country'. I think its high time those in government positions sacrificed along with the rest of us - and when they leave PUBLIC (they do work for us don't they?) office - no further salaries/pensions etc. should be paid. Pollies - time to get off your high horses!!! 

Personal income tax was introduced by the govt. during the 1914-18 war to help pay for the war effort and then maintained it after the war ended with the promise that it would pay everyone a pension upon retirement ,,,, of course this milk cow over the decades has been milked by many various means to the point where it is depleting the govt. coffers in ways they never envisaged. Now they are trying desperately to find ways to minimise or eventually bring about its demise. Perhaps the govt. should look at ways of cutting extra(?) benefits by starting at the top end ,,,, pollies perks!! Just think how much they could save fom the billions spent needlessly by these greedy, self indulgent bunch of arrogant $&@-/%*#'s. Next would be the lazy bunch of welfare recipients who have hardly ever (or never) worked and think it is their God given right to be given a cash handout to spend on drugs, alcohol and smokes or whatever unnecessary item they wish. Politicians ....Just leave the elderly pensioners alone to enjoy whatever short life they have left with whatever super or savings they have worked hard for the last fifty years or more and paid more than their fair share of tax!!! 

No! How about we stop paying the dole to people who won't work? Or stop the child care payments and the paid parental leave. Some people receive large benefit payments and they have no incentive to work. They don't pay any tax - so why should over 65s pay tax, most of them paid tax for many years. Also what about the perks the politicians receive? 

No !!!! This group of Australians have always paid their way throughout their working lives. We struggled to get a deposit(actually SAVED for it), then paid those 15% + interest to the lenders(Banks) usually on one income as we beleived in stay at home mothers, had one holiday a year if you were lucky (usually a tent by the beach), worked the 9hr day plus half day on saturday, fought for our rights, went to war when needed (Vietnam, Korea). Do I need to continue !!! 

Doing without for years, second hand everything, no holidays, no take out food - get the picture of our older generation that had no subsidised or any other child care! You had them - you look after them. Then we had interests rates up to 18 per cent. A top tax rate (I wasn't that lucky) of 80 cents in the dollar - and we had it good! Current generation is not prepared to 'go without' sorry you can't have it both ways! 

No, over 65's should not pay more tax. After all we've paid taxes all our working lives and more when you take into account taxes imposed on services and general cost of living. What the government is considering is double dipping if not treble - that amounts to fraud in my view.