Unless you’re dead, unemployed, or a moustache-twirling Monopoly Man, you’re probably paying more tax than you’d like. If you’re wondering where all that withheld money goes, you need to check out this interactive infographic – it breaks down how the government intends to spend $463.3 billion tax dollars in granular detail.
The infographic below was created by The Conversation based on official Budget estimates. As you can see, social security and welfare will receive the lion’s share of tax dollars – a whopping 35.3 per cent of the total. However, before you all start moaning about “dole bludgers”, it pays to drill down further.
The majority of that money actually goes towards assisting the aged, people with disabilities and families with children. Meanwhile, assistance for indigenous Australians amounts to just $2.2 billion: that’s a mere fraction of one percent of Australia’s total tax dollars for 2016-2017.
You can dive deeper into how our tax dollars are spent by clicking on the pie chart segments which are divided into Social Security and Welfare, Health, Education, Defence, General Public Services, Other Purposes, and “All Other Functions”.
[Via The Conversation]
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5 responses to “Revealed: Where Your 2017 Tax Dollars Will Go [Infographic]”
Although, to be fair, one could assume that the people receiving aged care actually paid their taxes years ago so this is just a return on that. I can understand disabled folk having a hard time working.
so yeah, bloody dole bludgers!!
Long-term unemployed make up a very, very small percentage of people who use the dole scheme so, in fact, the majority of those who use it to help them in lean times will pay it back over a lifetime of earning. It’s a civil option to make sure citizens are supported through their entire life. The options are few, let them starve or support them and put systems in place to facilitate a return to work and a tax system that supports such options.
I’d rather our system of welfare than the US system for example. I’d prefer some of the Scandanavian models even better ie we still have 16% of the population in poverty (including underemployed people) and unable to eat three meals a day, regularly. I’d rather taxes go towards bringing that number down than towards, for example, tax cuts for businesses that will not see any changes in employment.
That’s a good point; and I didn’t think of that. Good to learn something new everyday.
That’s something either forgotten or ignored in many discussions around social security monies. Many of the people on support grew up in an era where there were no incentives to fund your own retirement, so either end up being property barrons or on a Govt pensioner.
Its the solution presented to them during their most lucrative years – don’t worry about it, that’s why you pay your taxes. As time has gone on and that ideal has become less sustainable, its simply meant not enough time to build a proper nestegg.
I’m mid 40’s, and will have put super away my entire working life. Most of it with Employer contributions. Anyone older than me wont necessarily have that, but the thought processes only consider today’s environment, not what it was like up until the early 90’s.
So for a good 20 or 30 years to come, aged care is going to still be an issue.