Media release - REVIVE AUSTRALIA CALLS FOR 30% remittance TAX ON BILLIONS SENT OVERSEAS
Revive Australia has today released a new policy paper calling for a 30 per cent levy on outbound personal remittances, with the proceeds used to support Australian families, essential services and national infrastructure.
Every year, tens of billions of dollars earned in Australia are sent overseas through personal remittances.
Revive Australia’s new policy paper, The Great Australian Wealth Extraction, argues Australia should recover a share of that money before it leaves the country.
Under the proposal, the levy would be added to the amount being sent. Someone sending $1,000 overseas would pay a $300 levy, while the recipient would still receive the full $1,000. The ATO would administer the system and regulated transfer providers would collect the levy at the point of transfer.
Revive Australia’s Brian Marlow said Australia could no longer ignore the scale of the money leaving the country.
“Remittances are a form of wealth extraction. Plain and simple.”
“Australia provides the jobs, the wages, the infrastructure, the public services and the stable economy that allow this money to be earned. Billions are then transferred overseas to support foreign households and foreign economies.”
“Australia should retain a share of that wealth.”
The policy paper estimates a 30 per cent levy would raise approximately $7.3 billion a year when applied to the official remittance figure, or $11.4 billion using the broader industry estimate, before behavioural changes and exclusions. Revive Australia’s behavioural stress testing produces revenue of approximately $3.7 billion to $9.9 billion a year at the proposed rate.
Marlow said the levy would have two objectives.
“We want to raise billions for Australians and make it more expensive to continually transfer Australian-earned wealth offshore.”
“That money can help Australian families raise children, buy homes, access better health services and build the infrastructure this country needs.”
The United States has already moved to tax outbound remittances. A new 1 per cent US remittance transfer tax took effect on 1 January 2026 for certain transfers funded using cash, money orders, cashier’s cheques and similar physical instruments. The tax is paid by the sender and collected by remittance providers.
The Trump White House has publicly promoted taxing money sent out of the United States as part of its immigration and financial policy agenda.
“Australia should be prepared to go much further,” Marlow said.
“For years governments have focused on how much economic activity migration creates. Australians are entitled to ask how much of the wealth created here actually stays here.”
“Tax outbound remittances at 30 per cent. Keep more Australian-earned wealth in Australia. Use the revenue to back an Australian revival.”
ENDS