While taxes from most sources are rising, there have been some hits in this budget.
Wayne Swan may not have been handed the embarrassment of riches his predecessor enjoyed, but he could be forgiven for blushing.
Government revenue is set to rise above $300 billion for the first time this financial year. Total revenue next financial year will hit $320 billion.
This represents about a quarter of the entire economy.
Ordinary taxpayers remain the biggest contributors to government coffers, accounting for about half of revenue. Taxes on individuals will raise $127 billion next financial year. Strong jobs growth and low unemployment have underpinned strong growth in personal income tax receipts despite successive years of income tax cuts.
Business is set to contribute a further $73 billion in corporate taxes buoyed by rising profits and higher prices for commodity exports.
The budget for the first time includes the GST as a federal tax. The previous government would have excluded the $47 billion the GST will raise next financial year. However, this represents an accounting change only, with pretty much all of this to be passed straight to the states.
So-called sin taxes on petrol, beer, alcopops and tobacco will raise a further $25 billion.
While taxes from most revenue sources are rising, there have been some hits in this budget.
As Treasury put it: "Taxation revenue is expected to be subject to the powerful opposing forces confronting the economy."
Sharemarket tremors have hit superannuation tax and capital gains tax collections.
Collections from superannuation taxes are expected to fall by $2 billion next financial year, shrinking to $9.8 billion thanks to lower returns.
The negative effect of this year's sharemarket downturn is also expected to reverberate in lower than expected capital gains tax returns for the next four years. Treasury has cut forecasts for capital gains tax collections by about $15 billion over four years.
However, the revenue positives continue to outweigh the negatives, adding an extra $3 billion since last October and helping the Government to book a surplus of $21.7 billion for the coming financial year. This surplus represents about 1.8 per cent of gross domestic product.
So where does the rest of the money go?
Despite attempts in this budget to rein in spending on welfare for high-income earners, the welfare system continues to represent the biggest drain on government spending.
Spending on social security and welfare is set to top $100 billion next financial year.
Health remains the second-biggest spending area, with $46 billion set aside next year to look after the needs of the ageing population.
In the final years of the Howard government spending on defence grew to a point where it overtook spending on education.
That has been reversed in this budget, with $18.8 billion set aside for education, including spending on higher education, next financial year and $17.9 billion for defence.
The Government has kept its promise to increase defence spending by 3 per cent.
Labor promised before the election not to let taxes rise as a percentage of gross domestic product. It has met this target thanks to some strategic spending cuts and tax rises. Revenue as a percentage of GDP will fall from 26.9 per cent this financial year to 25.9 per cent next financial year.
However, with booming tax receipts flowing from the increase in Australia's terms of trade this may be more difficult to achieve in future years.
Tax as a percentage of GDP is projected to rise again in 2009-10 to 26.2 per cent.
Because of this, the Government appears to have massaged its promise in this budget. The budget papers show that the Government promises only that it will keep tax as a share of gross domestic product below the level of this financial year "on average" in future years.
And while the Government has managed to meet its target of a surplus of 1.5 per cent of GDP in the coming financial year, it has made no promises for future years.
The size of the budget surplus is projected to begin falling again in 2009-10, in dollar terms and as a percentage of gross domestic product. By 2011-12 it will have shrunk back to only 1.3 per cent of GDP.
The Treasurer still has a considerable job ahead of him.
