Budget night has come and gone again. For those sad folks (I count myself among them) who follow tax and fiscal policy obsessively, it’s the most glamorous night of the year.
But the budget does matter…
Despite the notorious unreliability of forward estimates, the government has included projections for a 10-year period in this year’s federal budget.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
When assessing some of the assumptions underpinning Wayne Swan’s 2013 federal budget, two things spring to mind: the Henry Tax Review and the notorious inaccuracy of forward estimates.
History shows…
The kind of tax reform being called for by groups such as the Business Council of Australia can only come about if politics and vested interests are put aside.
There can be no dispute with last week’s call from the Business Council of Australia for meaningful tax reform. This is a larger issue than both the looming budget and September’s election.
However, it…
The Gillard government’s changes to the tax treatment of superannuation make for a more complex system, rather than a more equitable one.
AAP
Today, the Australian government announced additional taxation of high income funds in the decumulation or retirement stage of investments in superannuation. Arguably, the changes add more to complexity…
The mining tax is fraught with significant design issues. But can it be fixed?
AAP
The Commonwealth government’s mining tax, the minerals resource rent tax (MRRT), has been a continuing source of controversy. It is easy to point to its significant problems, but a considerable challenge…
The abolition of royalties, as well as fluctuations in iron ore and coal prices, have had an effect on the mining tax’s capacity to generate revenue.
AAP
Why hasn’t the Minerals Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) produced significant revenue?
The answer lies in a combination of basic features of the MRRT design, and the recent fluctuation in prices of iron ore…
The case for significant, productivity-enhancing tax reform has been made by the Henry Review – but the challenge will be for meaningful reform not to swallowed by pre-election noise.
AAP
Reform of Australia’s taxation system has to be high on the agenda to raise national productivity, for greater simplicity, and to improve equity. However, because of the magnitude of the challenges to…
Billionaire US investor Warren Buffett pays less tax than his secretary – but Australia has its own anomalies.
AAP
In his 2012 State of the Union address US President Barack Obama lamented the fact that billionaire Warren Buffett faces a lower tax rate on his income than his secretary.
The situation arises because…
Despite the lack of any substantial reform, last week was quite a big week for Australia’s tax system.
Last week was quite a big week in tax, although when the dust had settled it was not clear what — if anything — had really happened.
First, the Treasurer announced in the Mid Year Economic and Fiscal…
The GST is off-limits for both political parties, but a restructure could result in an increase in national productivity and incomes.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
With appropriate investment in design and explanation, a larger GST reform package could be one of the most effective and easiest options to help reverse Australia’s lagging productivity growth.
Changes…
The lowering of the tax-free threshold on online purchases is stomping on the long tail of retail.
DGaston7564
Will the long tail of the internet be docked by the fastidious imposition of GST to online purchases?
Australian retailers have been lobbying the federal government to up the ante on online GST by lowering…
The Coalition has ruled out increasing GST, despite calls from former Prime Minister John Howard for GST to apply to food. But could a policy change be in the wings?
AAP
There is almost unanimous agreement among mainstream economists, tax experts, Treasury, business and even politicians (albeit very quietly) that the Goods and Services Tax will have to be increased and…
Former politician and economist John Hewson speaks to ANU’s Crawford School’s Bruce Chapman and Daniel Connell.
Welcome to the latest in our In Conversation series, between former politician and economist Dr John Hewson, Australian National University (ANU) Crawford School Director of Policy Impact Professor Bruce…
Improving the transparency and evaluation of major infrastructure projects is one way to increase productivity.
AAP
Productivity growth results in more valued output per unit of production input, or the same output for fewer inputs. Growth of productivity requires changes involving the adoption of new technology, better…
Flat earth approach: the tax burden on housing accounts for much of the financing cost of a new home.
AAP
A fundamental truism of economics is that if you tax something, you get less of it. Tax is thus a good place to start in seeking to explain why Australia’s housing market is chronically under-supplied…
The tax transfer system does not treat all families equally.
Sean Dreilinger
Most of the reforms proposed by the Henry Tax Review appear to have died a quiet death. In his recent article on inequality in The Monthly, Treasurer Wayne Swan does not mention the Henry Review at all…
Cutting company tax rates reflects Labor’s continuing acceptance of a neoliberal agenda when it comes to tax reform.
AAP
The introduction of the Minerals Resource Rent Tax into federal parliament marks the next step in Labor’s neoliberal tax reform agenda.
Another example, the carbon tax, is poised to pass through the Senate…
Ken Henry at the Tax Forum: talkfest or useful?
AAP
So the Tax Forum is done and dusted. Was it simply a talk-fest? Or a useful exchange of ideas? We’ll have to wait and see.
In the meantime, if you missed anything, don’t despair: we’ve collected some…
Carers lose out in the current welfare system.
Flickr/dominikgolenia
Almost 50 cents of every dollar spent by governments in Australia goes on social spending – either social security or health and community services. This week’s tax forum must reform the system, as the…
How safe is your nest egg from share market fluctuations?
Flickr/peregrinari
Think the share market volatility doesn’t affect you? Guess again.
With almost 60% of Australian superannuation funds invested in shares, anyone paying compulsory super contributions has something to…
Many of Ken Henry’s changes have been adopted, but is it reform?
AAP
At first glance, the Federal Government’s carbon tax plan appears to carry out significant income tax rate reform in the guise of carbon price compensation.
Indeed, the proposed tax rate reforms adopt…
Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Climate Change Minister Greg Combet address a press conference on Sunday. A carbon tax package announced today includes compensation measures and a radical overhaul of income tax policy.
ABC News24
The Australian government announced on Sunday it would introduce a carbon tax at $23 a tonne next July, rising 2.5% annually plus inflation and moving to a market-based emissions trading scheme in 2015…
Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson has said boosting Australia’s productivity is essential.
AAP
In his address to the Economic and Social Outlook Conference last week, Treasury Secretary Dr Martin Parkinson called for a renewed focus on boosting Australia’s falling productivity to ensure living standards…
Does the budget lessen or deepen the male-female divide?
The Budget: What does it have to do with tax reform?
This year’s budget claims to “progress the government’s tax reform agenda, improving fairness and integrity in the tax system”. Does it? The short…
Significant: Ken Henry’s tax review deserves to be on the national agenda.
AAP
The Henry Review released in May last year provided the Commonwealth and state governments with a wealth of good ideas for reform, yet so far the political processes have failed to deliver reforms.
Why…
In recent years productivity growth in Australia has been in alarming decline.
A series of government reports have identified some of the causes: infrastructure and skills inadequacies, bottlenecks and…
