Australian taxes
The tax system in australia is quite sophisticated and not many people understand it all that much, however I can say 2 things about it: it's a lot of money and there's nothing you can do about it!
Calculation of taxes in Australia
Taxes are deducted from your salary before you receive it, so all those funny ideas in your head about how you're going to fool the governemnt by lying about your income are just that: funny ideas!
Calculation is according to how much you earn (not just a percentage) in some cases the net income you make is better when you make less money.
For example lets say there's a tx slice between 40,000 and 50,000, if you earn 49,000 you're actually making more net money than if you earned 51,000 (by the way salaries are calculated yearly in australia ;)
In general you don't pay taxes for the first 6000 dollars you make, then the more you make, the more you pay.
Australian taxes - conclusion
I reckon the system is pretty fair in terms that I get good service & protection & medical coverage, things that I couldn't find with the same quality elsewhere.
At the end of each financial year you are required to send a full accounting sheet to the australian taxation office and depending on the calculation (and if it is correct) the office might return some money to you (i'm seeing those hapy thoughts again! Don't try to fool the government because they can very easily fin out + you will be asked for receipts for almost every claim, furthermore you are require to keep all your papers for 5 years (yes the ato might come back and ask you to prove claims you made 5 years ago, andyes it does happen!)
Tax cuts
Another fairly nice surprise is tax cuts, for the last couple of years the australian treasurer found that the government can take a bit less from everyone and still provide the same quality of services, it meant an extra 500 dollars to everyone / year :)
Many people feel taxes here are too much but I personally feel they're ok as long as i'm getting the services I need.
Life in Australia 
