Civil Partnerships

Australia has the GST too (goods & services tax) which is 10% on a range of different objects, and that is handled by the government. But I think they were meaning Income Tax - I do mine at the end of every June, hoping to get a nice dose of tax back from all the money that we have been handing over to the government. Australians over the age of 30 also get slugged if we don't have private health insurance; and your income tax is where they take what we used to call a HECS debt (can't remember what the acronym is now) which is the debt tertiary students accumulate in Australia as opposed to paying upfront for university - you only pay it back when you're earning above a threshold amount annually.

We also have Superannuation, but in Australia it's separate from the pension - i.e. you can have both your Super and a pension. Our Super is an amount paid into a Superannuation account monthly (I think) by our employer. It accumulates for your working life, and you get it paid out (however you want it to be paid out) when you retire. Depending on how much you earnt during your lifetime depends on the amount of Super you have at the end (and how much was raised in interest, or where the company invested it).

I think the pension is then given to people who can't live entirely off their Super (or they may not have any Super - particularly if they've never worked part or full time) - those who can live off their Super or other savings are known as "self-funded retirees". And the amount you get is dependent on what you already have, and anything you're "earning" - i.e. investments and the like.

 

Ours is called the CPP - Canada Pension Plan. We pay into it and our employer also pays a percentage. We collect it generally at 65, although you can take it at 60 with a penalty, which I did and my husband took his at 61, when he retired from the dairy. (he also gets a small pension from the dairy as well) My CPP is quite small since I stayed home with the children from 1970 until 1987, but I was given some credit for those years. We also have the Old Age Security at 65, and if our income is low enough, as ours is, we get a Guaranteed Income Supplement as part of the OAS; this is not taxable. The Alberta Seniors' Benefit, also at 65 for low-income pensioners, is also not taxable.

There is also the RRSP - Registered Retirement Savings Plan - into which we can pay as well, but neither of us had the extra funds to do that. Income earned while paying into that, as with the CPP, is not taxable until you start taking it out. There is also a limit as to how much you can put into it each year.

As for the GST - it is 5% on just about everything, goods and services. Most provinces have a provincial tax as well, ranging up to 15% but so far Alberta does not. I expect one is coming eventually, however. And we have a carbon tax on gas and oil - cars, heating, etc. It is supposed to make us not want to use those products, but we do have to stay warm in a winter country.

 

You can add to your Super account in Australia if you want, but you don't have to, nor need to if you don't. A lot of people do later in life to boost their Super before you retire.

I think Australia is expecting me to work until I'm 70 considering they just up-ed the retirement age... (again). EDIT: I just checked and apparently I can access my super at 60 and get the pension at 67... but I think that could be wrong.

 

Yes Peter, it is similar I had long forgotten the GST rules, I had to know them when I was working. Memory is coming back, businesses with a turnover above a certain amount have to charge GST and can claim from the IRD the GST they have paid, they claim it in their annual tax return.
Something also just remembered: GST is zero rated on imports and exports therefore insurance for the goods is also zero rated.
GST is not like VAT in UK in that we pay the same percentage on all foods, drinks, clothing and everything else we buy and every service we use.