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…
There are economy-wide gains to be made from lowering the corporate tax rate, but businesses will need to make concessions of their own.
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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…
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…
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…
While changes to the GST are not an explicit item on the Tax Forum agenda, they should be and the issue will arise anyway.
A broad and comprehensive GST tax base along the lines of the New Zealand model…
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…
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…
