australia top welfare country, page-34

Hi FreeWill,
The problem is that once these things are in place it becomes almost impossible to reverse them.But still worth trying.
I notice that you have tax-free super at the top of your list.Govts have messed with super for many years and now we have the most complicated system in the world. Many of those that have retired in recent years including my old man have paid punitive tax rates most of their lives.Going through periods when the marginal tax rate was 55-60%, then paying a 15% contribution rate on super which went to 30% when they added the surcharge for amounts earned above a certain level.Then there was the 15% tax paid on profits generated in the super fund .
At this point Australians were paying more than any other country on their retirement/super funds.Then on top of all that there was the approx 15% tax when people started drawing down on their super. The Howard Govt stopped this and hence there is now tax-free super. This is an appropriate outcome although not the best outcome.
there are other countries that pay nothing on the way through but do pay tax when they finally receive their super/retirement income stream.That may be better because it allows your fund to grow tax free and therefore you get a greater compounding effect.
Anyway to reverse the concept and remove the taxfree status of super would result in massive inequity and huge full cycle tax liablity, unless they exempted current retirees.then you end up with an even bigger more complicated mess than we have now.