What is a tariff?

This is a great question, thank you. A tariff is a tax on goods that come into or leave Australia. The Australian Parliament might impose a tariff on certain types of goods to raise money or to protect an Australian industry.

This diagram shows how the three levels of government raise and spend money. Taxes and grants are used to provide services.

How governments in Australia raise and spend money.

Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

How governments in Australia raise and spend money.

This diagram shows how the three levels of government raise and spend money. Taxes and grants are used to provide services.

Parliamentary Education Office (peo.gov.au)

Description

This diagram shows how governments raise and spend money.

The federal government raises money through taxing incomes, spending and businesses. The money is spent on federal matters such as: Medicare, defence, immigration, foreign policy.

State/territory governments receive more than half their money from the federal government and also collect taxes. The money is spent on state matters such as: roads, prisons, housing, public transport, police and ambulance services.

Local councils collect taxes (rates) from all local property owners and receives money from the federal and state governments. The money is spent on local matters such as: town planning, rubbish collection, water and sewage, dog registration and local roads.