The business community was effectively sidelined at the last federal election, and they felt somewhat miffed about it. Business associations were caught flat-footed at the suddenness of Julia Gillard…
Beer taxes played an integral part in establishing Belgian territory.
Flickr\ ee b b
Around the world, Belgium is famous for its beers and its brewing tradition. However, there is another link between beer and Belgium: historically, the country owes its very existence to beer.
Surprisingly…
Federal treasurer Wayne Swan welcomed the report.
AAP Image/Alan Porritt
Australia’s robust economy makes it the “Iron Man” of the developed world but the government should hike the GST rate and apply it more broadly, according to a new OECD report released today.
“Tax reforms…
State premiers preparing to gather at COAG on Friday have been disappointed by the GST Review.
As Prime Minister Julia Gillard prepares to meet with state premiers at Friday’s COAG meeting, the elephant in the room will be the Independent GST Review, released by Treasurer Wayne Swan last week…
Warnings of a drop in Australia’s real GDP per capita – a measure of living standards – still provide a stark contrast to Greece, where the real GDP per capita is likely to be 25% lower in 2013 than in 2008.
AAP
Last week, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) in a preliminary version of its 2012 Economic Outlook lowered its growth forecasts for Australia from 3.7% to 3.0% in 2013…
Chris Jordan will start in his role as Australia’s Federal Tax Commissioner in January 2013.
AAP
In January 2013, Mr Chris Jordan AO starts as Federal Commissioner of Taxation in charge of the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). He follows Mr Michael D’Ascenzo AO, who was not reappointed after his seven…
Resolving the US' fiscal cliff through taxation reform will prove challenging for the President.
AAP
When President Obama took office in 2008, there was little time for rest or reflection. The economy was in freefall and immediate action was required. This time around, the situation is not so dire. But…
Former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was reduced to issuing IOUs to pay the state’s bills.
Long after President Obama’s re-election was secure, another election day result came in, one that may be of comparable significance in the long run.
By a 54-46 margin, Californian voters approved Proposition…
The NSW Auditor-General has revealed discrepancies totalling $1 billion in Barry O'Farrell’s coalition June budget.
New South Wales taxpayers could well be wondering whether the news that the state’s finances are in surplus – rather than deficit – is good news or bad.
The state’s Auditor-General Peter Achterstaat…
Tax reform or trickery? Treasurer Wayne Swan’s plan for businesses to pay a monthly tax bill instead of a quarterly one has been met with acrimony from the business community.
AAP
One of the more contentious issues in the 2012-13 Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) is a tax-timing change. Corporate income tax will be paid monthly instead of quarterly for very large corporations…
Mitt Romney has said that 47% of households pay no federal income tax, but something about the statement doesn’t add up.
AAP
Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s comment that 47% of households pay no federal income tax is true. (It’s actually closer to 46%.) But when you dig beneath the bumper-sticker headline, his…
Cuts to the R&D tax incentives for Australian businesses – as proposed by the Business Tax Working Group – have significant implications for our future economic wellbeing.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
The Business Tax Working Group discussion paper’s suggestion to reduce the R&D tax incentive reveals a clear-cut attitude to policy aimed at Australia’s economic development: “It’s all about the tax…
There are economy-wide gains to be made from lowering the corporate tax rate, but businesses will need to make concessions of their own.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
Yesterday, the government’s business tax working group released its discussion paper on possibilities for tax reform. The paper makes a case for a broader base and lower tax rate (the corporate tax is…
Provocative artworks, such as Wim Delvoye’s Cloaca, have drawn a steady stream of tourists to multi-billionaire David Walsh’s Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart.
AAP
It was March last year when I sat down in the chaotic New York office of a leading international tax attorney to conduct an interview for a book I was writing on the campaign against tax havens. But rather…
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…
President Obama outlines his tax policy at the White House on Monday.
EPA
On Monday afternoon, President Obama delivered what sounded like a speech on tax policy. In reality, though, the speech dispensed more politics than policy – politics carefully crafted to secure Obama…
The Prime Minister is selling the Schoolkids Bonus as extra help for families, but is it good policy?
AAP Image/Penny Bradfield
The 2012 federal budget has been described as “a big taxing, big spending budget" with a big focus on welfare. The first spending measure to be legislated and to come into effect is the new Schoolkids…
Julia Gillard’s revenue neutral tax reform package will be a tough sell.
AAP
In summing up a business summit in Brisbane on 13 June, the Prime Minister floated her intention to lower the company tax rate – but as part of a business tax revenue neutral package. This intention raises…
Australia’s not-for-profit sector is undergoing considerable reform.
Howard.
“How much should the taxpayer contribute to the charitable whims of donors?”
This comment was made in an article in the The Guardian on 16 April. It was referring to the fact that the UK Coalition government…
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…
Paul Cleary’s book, Too Much Luck, highlights the many negative consequences of the mining boom.
AAP
Paul Cleary’s book Too Much Luck: The Mining Boom and Australia’s Future, is a timely appraisal of the dramatic economic and social impacts, as well as the political ramifications of the current resource…
Changes to the MRRT will leave a gaping hole the revenue the tax originally promised.
AAP
Federal Labor’s mining profits tax was originally designed to be a redistributive measure from a very profitable section of capital to all of capital through company tax cuts.
The mini-me Mineral Resources…
Paul Cleary’s book, Too Much Luck, paints a negative picture of Australia’s mining industry.
AAP
If Paul Cleary is to be believed in his recently published book, Too Much Luck: The Mining Boom and Australia’s Future, the resources boom is the worst thing that ever happened to Australia.
He maintains…
Scripted beforehand: Tax Forum discussion about a lower corporate tax rate followed predictable lines.
AAP
As former Treasury Secretary Ken Henry observed, much of the national conversation that took place at the first session on business taxation at the National Tax Forum could have been scripted beforehand…
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…
Australia needs a tax on unhealthy foods that covers more than just fat content.
Flickr/ms Tea
Australia should follow the lead of Denmark and consider taxing foods high in saturated fats to curb the nation’s growing obesity problem, Greens leader Bob Brown said at yesterday’s tax forum.
This week…
The Tax Forum must ensure we have a sure-footed approach to reform.
AAP
Periodic tax reform is necessary as governments respond to new patterns and forms of economic activity and the inevitable political pressures these changes create.
Yet the politics of tax reform is politically…
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says the FTT could raise 55 billion euros a year.
AAP
Momentum is building behind the global campaign to impose a tax on transactions in financial markets, with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso announcing plans to introduce the measure as…
The local government sector could serve as a valuable model for taxation reform.
Flickr/David Jackmanson
There is a contradiction at the heart of tax reform. Timid governments, worried about a voter backlash, do too little, too late.
Yet in the medium to long term, major structural changes in the economy…
President Obama has proposed $US1.5 trillion worth of tax increases for the rich.
AAP
Sometimes good policy and good politics are the same thing.
By tying together lessons learned from economist John Maynard Keynes and former president Harry Truman, Barack Obama is taking steps that may…
Record terms of trade have masked dropping productivity growth – until now.
AAP
What is to be done about Australia’s deteriorating productivity performance?
It’s by no means inconceivable that the answer to this question could be “nothing”.
Historical precedent strongly suggests…
Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel believe an FTT can help solve Europe’s debt woes.
AAP
French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel have announced a plan to impose a financial transactions tax (FTT) for the Eurozone, as part of an effort stem the bloc’s worsening…
High profile Wickenby targets like Glenn Wheatley make good headlines, but conflate avoidance and evasion.
AAP
Distinctions matter. Maybe lawyers devote more effort than the average citizen to making distinctions, and invest the ones they find with improbable significance, but these are occupational hazards.
Even…
Commercial activities by charities which don’t directly fund their altruistic activities, are set to incur tax.
AAP
The not-for-profit sector is facing the loss of a privileged exemption that allows charities to avoid paying tax on profit-making activities.
Announced in May’s Budget, the changes will see not-for-profit…
Without the truly important issues on the agenda, October’s tax forum will achieve little.
AAP
Debates around tax are too often seen as marginal to real life and not very interesting.
October’s tax forum offers an opportunity to challenge this misconception and do some hard thinking about what…
Interventionist or free market – just where do our economists sit?
Flickr/Daquella Manera
A funny thing happened on the way to this year’s Australian Conference of Economists.
A survey was conducted of the policy opinions of members of the Economic Society of Australia (ESA). Far from conforming…
Price-gouging might occur under the carbon tax regime, but market discipline will keep it in check.
Flickr/dmcneil
Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan has announced that the government will provide the competition watchdog with almost $13 million in extra funding to tackle carbon tax-related price-gouging.
In this context…
Funding for agricultural research and development has to come from somewhere.
AAP
Food security is on the agenda for Australia. I wrote on this recently, pointing out that while we currently grow enough to feed 60m people, we are not immune to food security pressures.
Wealthier nations…
Households will bear more financial burdens as Gillard’s carbon tax regime matures.
AAP
The carbon tax is short-term carrot and long-term stick. The Coalition’s campaign against “a great big new tax” drove Gillard to introduce a tax for which most people and businesses affected will be compensated…
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…
Ken Henry’s tax review discusses a ‘bequest’ tax – should it be back on the public agenda?
AAP
The concept of death duties reared its controversial head publicly recently, with Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon quizzed on party policy by the ABC’s political editor Chris Uhlmann.
Greens leader Bob Brown…
Will Andrew Forrest succeed in his push to change the mining tax? Others have succeeded in the past.
AAP
Andrew “Twiggy” Forrest’s visit to Canberra earlier this week didn’t prove particularly effective in swaying the government on its freshly drafted mineral resources rent tax (MRRT) legislation.
But the…
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…
Changes to the charity tax rules could impact on Gloria Jean’s among other organisations.
Flickr/Edwin Tang ET
Tonight’s budget is expected to tighten a tax loophole for charities which run businesses unrelated to their charitable work. The government thinks it will increase revenue for Australia’s coffers. It…
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…
