Overview

The study addresses the impact of the tax system on families since 1976-77, concluding that tax cuts are justified for all tax payers, but that the cuts should be especially targetted to middle income families, particularly those with children. Tax cuts should also be targetted to low income single people who have not benefited through the Family Allowance Supplement (FAS) initiative. A package of changes to the tax system is proposed, a principal component of which is that the Dependent Spouse Rebate and the Sole Parent Rebate be replaced by a new, income-tested Family Rebate, which would apply to all families, including sole parents, couples with children and couples without children. The proposal is evaluated in terms of its impact on different income groups, impact on different family types, work incentives, impacts on revenue and outlays, and implementation

Australian Families Income Transfer (AFIT) Project Bulletin No 5, Febrary 1989.