UPDATED: This is how the Queensland flood levy works

It’s official: the government plans to introduce a national flood levy to help pay for the approx $5 billion damage bill from the Queensland floods. Here is how it will effect you:

– A levy of 0.5 per cent will apply on taxable incomes between $50,001 and $100,000.

– A levy of 1.0 per cent will apply on taxable incomes above $100,000.

– Anyone earning less than $50,000 will not pay the levy.

– Flood victims will not pay the levy. A person earning $60,000 a year will pay just under $1 extra per week under the levy.

– A person earning $100,000 a year will pay just under $5 extra per week under the levy.

– The levy will apply only in the 2011/12 financial year.

– It is expected to raise $1.8 billion.

In addition, there will be cuts to spending including a rebate for people wanting to change to a greener car. The Opposition is not happy (admittedly, this is their job). They say more spending should be slashed. I’m not sure they have their tone right on this one – they’re running a very negative line (re: not ‘fair’ that people have donated and that it’s an insult to them and everyone who has volunteered to help) that I’m not hearing echoed in the wider community. The spirit of mateship and pulling together around these floods has been extraordinary and I haven’t sensed a change in mood yet – have you? Or is the Coalition just being opportunistic? Feels like they’re appealing to a pretty mean-spirited philosophy on this one.

Others (including me) think there should be some kind of on-going fund that pays for such catastrophic disasters like the Victorian fires and the Queensland floods.

According to Fairfax news reports:

Queensland Premier Anna Bligh welcomed news the state would be receiving an upfront $2 billion cash transfer from the federal government, saying it would help begin the rebuilding work.

“When it comes to the levy, I understand that nobody wants to pay more, but the people of Queensland didn’t want this disaster either,” she told reporters in Brisbane. Ms Bligh brushed off suggestions the levy would see donations to the flood appeal dry up.

Premier Bligh said she hoped Australians understood money they had donated to the appeal would help flood-affected mums and dads, while the levy would fund major infrastructure rebuilding work.

(you can read the full story here)

UPDATE: Tony Abbott has found himself with an usual supporter, NSW Premier Kristina Keneally wants changes to the flood tax levy for residents in Sydney, citing an already high cost of living.

From ABC Online:

New South Wales Premier Kristina Keneally has asked for changes to the proposed flood levy, saying it is not fair to people in Sydney.Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced yesterday the levy would be imposed on middle and high-income earners to raise money for reconstruction work after this summer’s destructive floods. The one-off levy will see most taxpayers paying between $1 and $5 a week to rebuild flood-affected areas.

But Ms Keneally says the cost of living for people in Sydney is higher than in other parts of the country, and for that reason the Federal Government should reassess the way the levy is calibrated.

“Perhaps a bit more fine-tuning, mindful that families in Sydney on $70,000 or $80,000 are in a different set of circumstances than families in Adelaide or Perth on that same income,” she said.

 

What do you think? Are you still feeling the love for Queensland? Do you think the way the levy will be structured is ‘fair’? Does fair even come into it when people have lost everything they own?

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