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

Higher-than-expected revenue has put the economy in a stronger position than last year and is helping fund pre-election policies including tax cuts

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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.