Tax

High life of Toorak comes at the price of high taxes | Herald Sun

WE might envy their flash cars and palatial mansions, but the good citizens of Toorak can keep their tax bills.

New tax office statistics show Toorak and Hawksburn residents are the state's biggest taxpayers, handing over an average $61,000 to the tax man a year.

But don't feel sorry for them - their average taxable income is $165,000 after making more than $20,000 in deductions.

Portsea residents aren't far behind. The bayside playground's 270 taxpayers average $160,000 in taxable income and pay $59,500 in tax.

Residents of Tresco, near Swan Hill, have Victoria's lowest tax bills, paying an average $4341 a year.

They're closely followed by the taxpayers of Lavers Hill, in the Otways, who pay an average $4445.

The latest tax stats show a record 12.6 million Australians lodged income tax returns in 2007-08.


They had an average taxable income of $43,648 and paid $12,323 in tax after making $3311 worth of deductions.

About 72 per cent used a tax agent, pushing the cost of filing a return to more than $300 a taxpayer - up from $268.

The rising cost of tax compliance, worth more than $1.6 billion nationally, is fuelling a push for automatic tax returns.

Assistant Treasurer Nick Sherry said the system was too complex and costly for Australians with "normal tax affairs".

"This just underscores the need to simplify the tax system and reduce compliance costs for average Australians," Senator Sherry said.

The Henry review of taxation is examining the issue and expected to recommend a system that would do away with the need for tax agents for most Australians.

The taxation figures show men paid an average $15,052 in tax, compared with women who paid $9063.

The average taxpayer claimed nearly $2000 in deductions for work-related expenses, and $523 for donations or gifts.

More than 1.7 million taxpayers claimed a tax deduction against a rental property. The average deduction was $4997.

More than 1.3 million Australians have a higher education debt, the majority of them women. Graduates take an average five years before they make their first education debt repayment.

The nation's biggest taxpayers were in Sydney Harbour suburbs of Point Piper, Darling Point and Edgecliff.

Only two Victorian postcodes, covering Toorak/Hawksburn and Portsea, were in the national top 10 for taxable income.

Other high-earning, big-paying Victorian localities include Brighton, Camberwell East, Canterbury, Kooyong, Malvern, Albert Park and Middle Park.

Residents of Kew, Cotham, Flinders and East Melbourne are also among the state's biggest taxpayers.

The state's lowest-paying localities were almost all in regional Victoria.

They include the Barmah region on the Murray, Nyah West near Swan Hill, Benambra in East Gippsland and Rokewood in the state's west.

On-campus residents at Monash University also had some of the lowest tax bills in the state.