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Incentivising private health insurance through the income tax regime: Capitalising on behavioural models

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Published on 01 Dec 11 by "AUSTRALIAN TAX FORUM" JOURNAL ARTICLE

The Australian income tax regime is generally regarded as a mechanism by which the Federal Government raises revenue, with much of the revenue raised used to support public spending programs. A prime example of this type of spending program is health care. However, a government may also decide that the private sector should provide a greater share of the nation's health care. To achieve such a policy it can bring about change through positive regulation, or it can use the taxation regime, via tax expenditures, not to raise revenue but to steer or influence individuals in its desired direction. When used for this purpose, tax expenditures steer taxpayers towards or away from certain behaviour by either imposing costs on, or providing benefits to them. Within the context of the health sector, the Australian Federal Government deploys social steering via the tax system, with the Medicare Levy Surcharge and the 30 percent Private Health Insurance Rebate intended to steer taxpayer behaviour towards the Government’s policy goal of increasing the amount of health provision through the private sector. These steering mechanisms are complemented by the ‘Lifetime Health Cover Initiative’.

This article, through the lens of behavioural economics, considers the ways in which these assorted mechanisms might have been expected to operate and whether they encourage individuals to purchase private health insurance.

Author profiles

Prof Kerrie Sadiq CTA
Professor Kerrie Sadiq holds the position of Professor of Taxation in the School of Accountancy at the QUT Business School, Queensland University of Technology. Kerrie’s primary areas of expertise are international tax, tax expenditures and capital gains tax. She is the co-editor of Australian Tax Review, an internationally recognised leading academic tax journal. She is author of publications in both Australian and International journals and edited books, including the Bulletin for International Taxation, Australian Tax Forum, Journal of International Tax, Canadian Tax Journal and the New Zealand Journal of Taxation Law and Policy. She is the general editor and co-author of leading taxation texts used in universities throughout Australia. Prior to joining Queensland University of Technology, Kerrie spent 20 years at The University of Queensland as a member of both their Law School and Business School. Academic Qualifications: • Doctor of Philosophy, Deakin University (PhD) • Master of Laws, Queensland University of Technology (LLM) • Bachelor of Laws, The University of Queensland (LLB (Hons)) • Bachelor of Commerce, The University of Queensland (BCom) Professional Associations & Designations: • Chartered Accountant (CA), Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand • Certified Practice Accountant (CPA), CPA Australia • Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA), Tax Institute (Australia) • Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD designation) - Current at 25 August 2020
Click here to expand/collapse more articles by Kerrie SADIQ.
Andrew Johnston
Andrew works for TC Beirne School of Law, University of Queensland and Research Associate, Centre for Business Research, University of Cambridge.
Current at 1 December 2011

 

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