Would you support a fishing tax?

[Lovey80]

I was talking to my local tackle shop bloke on Monday and he told me in the US there is a 1% or 2% tax put on all boating and fishing products sold. These taxes are used to put back to the fishing community by the way of fish stocking, boat ramps, arti reefs etc etc (the things we would all like to see more of).

I thought to myself that would be a far better option than Rec fishing licences as everyone that bought anything to do with fishing or boating would be paying their way towards keeping our fisheries the best in the world and keeping the best facilities towards it. Think about the amount of money that would be raised that could be put to good use. Grant's to stockng groups, new boat ramps and car parks, grants for atri reefs. The possibilities would be near on endles and 1 or 2 % would not be missed. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Cheers Chris

[breamnut]

I was talking to my local tackle shop bloke on Monday and he told me in the US there is a 1% or 2% tax put on all boating and fishing products sold. These taxes are used to put back to the fishing community by the way of fish stocking, boat ramps, arti reefs etc etc (the things we would all like to see more of).

I thought to myself that would be a far better option than Rec fishing licences as everyone that bought anything to do with fishing or boating would be paying their way towards keeping our fisheries the best in the world and keeping the best facilities towards it. Think about the amount of money that would be raised that could be put to good use. Grant's to stockng groups, new boat ramps and car parks, grants for atri reefs. The possibilities would be near on endles and 1 or 2 % would not be missed. I'd like to hear your thoughts.

Cheers Chris

only if it got rid of those netters

[Lovey80]

With a bit of cash in the buget it couldnt hurt. NSW did well with the rec fishing licences being used to buy them out so I can't see why we couldnt????

Cheers Chris

[sid_fishes]

the only thing wrong with it the way i see it would be that the goverment would see all this money coming in,then not do what it was intended for , just like everything else . are we getting better roads? better transport?do they get pay rises when they feel they need them? do we? its a great idea , but i dont /cant outlay anymore as i need to live sid

[tunaticer]

It will just be another grab for money that will be mis spent and misplaced and we will get no return from it. It needs to be done not via retailers but via lisencing with one revenue source to be controlled via one govt agency.

If retailers are supposed to pass on the 2% tax to the govt they will simply categorise tackle as hardware items etc.

Jack

[Kleyny]

I theory it would be a good idea but as others have said the money would not go to what it was intended. Just look at our rego then look at our roads. Need i say more

neil

[darryl13]

all boat owners already paid to look after the fisheries its part of your rego payment(its just not high lighted)

[Lovey80]

I can't see how it could be seen as a grab for money. If it went to a similar body as the NSW fishing licences money goes to there should'nt be a problem.

Tunaticer I cant see the local tackle shops doing that as its not comming out of their pocket and growing the fishing community will only benefit the tackle shops in the long run.

Sid, you've been paying through the nose on fishing gear in Australia up til now i dont think 1 or 2 percent will be too far missed

Cheers Chris

[bushbeachboy]

No way! I already pay an exorbitant amount in tax. Consider income tax, capital gains tax, stamp duty, GST, fuel excise, etc etc etc

The government already gets a huge slice of what everyone earns, and they handle that wastefully. All the things you mentioned should already be in existence.

And I am opposed to the introduction of any kind of fishing licence in Qld - it's just another bloody tax!

[Adamy]

Hi Chris,

Like a lot of things - this sounds like a good idea "in principle" however I think some of the previous replies have hit the nail on the head.

I have just obtained a policy analyst's position in the federal treasury... so while I dont know everything, I do have an inkling on a few of these types of economic issues...

If you were to imply such as tax and it wasnt directly going into consolidated revenue (which means it definitely wouldnt be directed into the right places) then you would have to create a whole department just dedicated to regulating and appropriating the money to the various sources for reinvestment into fishing. So the first thing a government would do is to create such a department - staffed by bureaucrats then you would need bureaucrats to supervise those bureaucrats and so on.

THEN there would be competing interests for the funds such as local dam stocking groups, fishing education and greenies (to clean up the waterways) etc. so these guys would be forced to either become political lobbyists - or hire them. And it goes on and on - once you introduce a tax and then a distribution method - you create an "ecosystem" of feeders with only a very small percentage of the money actually hitting the ground - where its needed most.

I know it sounds cynical - but its a simplistic model of how it works.

So although it seems like a great idea in principle - I'd would have to be against it... but keep them coming mate - I really like how you actually think about things. Maybe you could arrive at some solutions for the problems described above... that being the case run for Prime Minister - you have my vote.

Cheers,

Adam

[Lovey80]

Thanks Adamy you have really opened my eyes. I'm just a little pissed off how the average Rec fisho seems to be constantly getting Shat on by the stated bureaucrats and we are seeing nothing for it. The Gov't only seems to listen to the greenies, all our money is spent on anything but us.

I'm just sitting here tring to think of ways to get us a bit of power back, and if the whole fishing community were contributing small amounts of money to a body that the Gov't couldn't touch then they may be able to fight the good fight for us.

As far as the competing interests go, thats kind of my point. If there was a small body with a boot load of cash then the competing interests would have to put in submissions on why they want the cash and the body could make the choice not the Gov't making the choice on what will get the most votes for them.

At the end of the day people see "TAX" and their blood boils and so it should be. It does for me too and thats the reason i think the NO will get the vote. I bet the NSW fishing licences had the same respose of sceptisism but now they are reaping the rewards.

P.S. Can I be the bureaucrat that gets paid a PS wage to allocate funds and fund projects???? ok im dreaming again.

[Adamy]

Like I said Chris... you're a thinker and thats a rare commodity in this day and age - keep it up, if you get a winner - I'd be happy to help you write the submission.

Cheers,

Adam

[Chas & Clarry]

Hey Lovey80 thanks for throwing this curley one up for discussion. I think Adamy is right on this, the bureaucracy required to manage special purpose taxes is a crippler. A few people have expressed a cynicism that I also share, ie that the money would never get to where you would like to see it spent, or if it did, an equivalent amount that currently comes from consilidated revenue would be syphoned off by the govt, so we wouldn't gain anything. I recon there are 3 other reasons why I’d say no

• If recreational anglers have to pay a special tax it could be like saying that we “owe” more than we already contribute for enjoying our particular interest as opposed to all of the other interests that are out there (do cyclists-who need cycle paths-, footballers-who need sports grounds-, bushwalkers-who need parks and tracks, etc etc pay a special tax? No.. and neither should they, because they like us already pay all kinds of taxes through income, GST, rego, stamp duty, fuel excise etc)
• The govt isn’t short of cash, just short of creativity and long on bureaucracy. We already pay 10% GST on everything we buy for fishing plus all of the other taxes on our boats, fuel, licenses etc. As a consequence of these taxes, governments at various levels keep boasting of their budget surpluses. They even keep giving us income tax cuts because of the money that they are raking in through the GST...doesn’t seem to be a lack of revenue that is the problem.
• Our expenditure on our hobby also supports an enormous industry of boating, fishing, camping, leisure, tourism etc etc, the social and economic benefit of which is enormous, and reaches way beyond just people who fish...so the fishing infrastructure costs are legit for the govt to cover.

Now you might think I'm crazy, but I do think that if we can afford it we should pay a bit more tax to improve infrastructure generally (health, education, disabililty support etc)... So long as the govt reduces bureaucratic waste too. BUT not a specific fishing or cycling, or footy tax.

From the Chas part of C&C (Clarry is asleep...so I better not assume that I am speeking for her! )

[Lovey80]

Thanks Chas for a usefull and sensible post. I totally get your point and am equally in agreement of how our money doesnt get used as we would want. The bureaucratic crap that we as citizens of this great country have to put up with is an absolute joke. I wonder exactly how much of the GST etc etc on our fishing products actually comes back to us....... I recon bugger all!!! Maybe if a small organisation was to receive a percentage of that GST to spend on behalf of REC Fisho' (maybe we get 2% and the gov't gets the other 8 or 9% or what ever it is these days) like i stated that the Gov't had no say over where it was spent then we would start to see some value for money for our hard earned cash. I doubt that we would be seeing anything near that at the moment.

Would that sound like a better idea???

Cheers Chris

[Chas & Clarry]

Hmmmm good question. I'd think that the percentage would have to be a bit lower than that...there are lots of legit and good causes and lifestyles in Aus appart from fishing, that also need their slice.

I've got to say that I'm not an economist or a social planner, and wouldn't have any idea re what percentage of the GST would be needed and equitable for fishers while still being fair to other people's needs. Certainly haven't got a clue re what the amount of money is needed for our infrastructure.

Even though the bureaucracy is over the top, I do recon that the public service is full of skilled and hardworking people (thumbs up Adamy), who have a better idea of what is reasonable on the state/country scale than I have. What we need to do is to keep our voice in front of the politicians who make the decisions to ensure that the right thing is done with that information. Now there is a big task!!

Keeping our profile positive and demonstrating our contribution (take a look at the "fishing for a cause" thread on the general fishing chat board for a great example of that) and voicing up to the pollies...I recon that's the way to go.

Thanks again for putting this one up and for your ongiong thoughts on it.

Chas