Australia. Foolish to exempt pensioners from Labor’s dividend tax policy
One of my favourite Australian television shows was The Hollowmen. It was set in the offices of the Central Policy Unit, a fictional political advisory unit set up by the Prime Minister to help him get re-elected. Every episode featured a headline-grabbing announcement, which upon analysis was found to be deeply flawed.
It is particularly appropriate to the ongoing debate about Labor’s intention to deny a refund of imputation credits. It was all going gung ho for the first couple of days, and then the financial advisory industry worked out that the biggest losers would be pensioners with small share portfolios.
Last Tuesday Labor confirmed that all pensioners, including part pensioners, would be exempt from the new measures, and so retain all their franking credits. The reality is that this could create even more anomalies.
Read More: The Sidney Morning Herald
