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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Jonathan Barrett

Australia’s tax take is higher – but so are debt and deficit in this year’s budget

workers
In Jim Chalmers Australian federal budget 2025, higher-than-expected revenue allows Labor to offer workers tax cuts. Photograph: Bianca De Marchi/AAP

Australia’s labour market has consistently defied expectations, with most jobseekers still able to find work even as inflationary pressures hit their employers.

Those workers have delivered the government another higher-than-expected tax take, which will help Labor fund its pre-election policies, including income tax cuts, while allowing the government to argue that its forecast budget deficits are reasonable.

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