INCOME GROUPS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 256, 10 January 1941, Page 8

INCOME GROUPS

AUSTRALIAN SPREAD THREE MILLIONAIRES On the world standard that a millionaire is a man whose income exceeds £50,000 a year, Australia has* three millionaires. These three men confessed to the Taxation Commissioner that their total income for the year was £181,000 —an average of £60„300 each. The £50,000 income minimum is taken as the standard because £50000 capitalised at 5 per cent is £1,000,000. The Federal 'Taxation Commissioner, in his latest report, lumps the millionaires together among the residents of Australia earning more than £50,000. An income of £60,000 is £1100 a week, or £26 hour —if the millionaire laboured for a normal working week of 44 hours, to earn his monej T . On the other hand, tjhe three millionaires contributed to Australia's national budget by paying £59,398 in Federal taxes —an average of nearly £400 a week. The report also disclosed that there were 332,377 individual taxpayers who earned less than £50, 000. Of these, the taxable income of £289,678 was less than £750 a yea'r. There were 42,693 persons who earned more than £14 10s a Aveek, and the £1000 a year and upAVjirds class numbered 20,676. There Avere 240 Avho earned more than £10,000 a year. The 199,432 persons with a taxable income of less than £200 paid only 2 per cent of the Federal income tax in 1938-39. Another 69,454 taxpayers Avith a taxable incame of between £200 and £500 paid 3.6 cent of the total income tax collected. The £500 to £1000 group taxpayers, numbering 38,303, paid 6.7 per cent. The 27,525 persons earning more than £1000 (residents and nonresidents) paid 50.8 per cent of the tax. The other 36.9 of the tax aa?.is paid by 12,301 companies. Particulars about tax paid by nonresidents of the Commomvealtli disclose that one man came to Australia and earned . £21, 000 by personal exertion, and another £9000 from properly, and then, presumably, left the country again.