Inequality has grown dramatically across developed economies in recent years, propelling populists to power and leading to mounting calls to “tax the rich”. Proposals to tax millionaires and billionaires in the United States and United Kingdom have gained traction, but Australia seems to be absent from the debate.
The wealth of Australia’s 200 richest people has more than tripled to around $700 billion over the past decade – and much of this huge wealth goes untaxed. How can it be
that some billionaires pay lower tax rates than salaried workers?
To answer this, University of Canberra’s Kristen Sobeck explains how the super-rich accumulate
wealth, and how they defer tax on capital gains. And she points out some of the ways the system could be made fairer.
