In this new Book, ten eminent authors explain why and how Australiarss system of personal income tax needs reforming. The total tax take in Australia is around the OECD average but tax on peoplerss incomes is well above average. High income taxes undermine national prosperity. The top rate is out of line with most other western countries which have been moving to lower and atter rates. Because the threshold at which people start to pay tax is well below subsistence people are taxed before they have earned enough to keep body and soul together. The interaction of tax and welfare creates dispiritingly high ls"effective marginal tax ratesrs" which deter people on welfare from looking for work and penalize low-wage families whenever they try to increase their take-home pay. The system is riddled with distortions and disincentive effects.""