Hockey gets it wrong on tax, again

Greg Jericho in Joe Hockey either doesn't understand how tax works or he is deliberately misleading the public finds that Treasurer Hockey's claim that people in Australia pay half their income in tax utterly wrong.

In 2011-12, the richest 10% – those who earn over $110,000 a year – paid on average around 32% in tax. This includes the top 1% who earn on averaged $611,000 a year. But even that minute segment of the population paid just 39.5% of their total income in tax – well below Hockey’s “nearly half” amount.

By contrast the middle income earners in the fifth and sixth deciles paid just 14% and 17% of their income in tax.

In 2011-12, the median taxable income of taxpayers was around $49,700. People earning that amount paid on average 15.6% of their income in tax.

Rather than meaning they had to work “July, August, September, October, November, December” for the government, it meant they had to work just 57 days. Or from 1 July to 26 August in the financial year.