The push from the states to reduce the GST threshold on imported goods is being driven by a desire for a bigger pool of GST revenue and in spite of the inevitable backlash from consumers, they will get…
Both Labor and Coalition states are pushing the federal government to extend the GST to more online purchases as they look for additional sources of revenue. And while the Coalition had promised no changes…
A simmering discussion about Australia’s goods and services tax (GST) flared up again straight after the election, with WA Premier Colin Barnett arguing for an increase in the GST rate and a broadening…
It looks like the GST will feature prominently in yet another election. The government is running a scare campaign on whether the Coalition will raise the GST after the election. In the meantime Tony Abbott…
Few taxes have been as politically fraught as the GST. The deal, brokered by the-then Prime Minister John Howard and the Democrats in 2000, was not only controversial for its political ramifications, but…
Different year, same crisis. Around this time last year, the United States was looking down the barrel of economic disaster with the debt ceiling. As we approach 2013, it peers over the fiscal cliff. That…
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…
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. The…
The Federal Government is tipped to be eyeing the online world in a bid to shore up collapsing federal tax revenues. This move has more to do with squeezing “little areas” to get more tax, and ensure…
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…
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…
Scott Ewing, Swinburne University of Technology and Julian Thomas, Swinburne University of Technology
Australians are among the most enthusiastic online shoppers in the world. Our most recent survey, published in the CCi Digital Futures report, The Internet in Australia 2012, has found a quarter of Australian…
A GST on imported goods valued under $1000 is unlikely say tax experts, despite a government taskforce suggesting “in principle” grounds for it. The Low Value Parcel Processing Taskforce yesterday released…
After the government’s response to the Gonski report on schools funding, it’s worth looking at not only what was in the announcement but what wasn’t. Prime Minister Julia Gillard offered no indication…
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…
We are most of the way through a very long budget season this year, beginning with Victorian Treasurer Kim Wells in May and is not due to end till Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls delivers his first budget…
If Australian governments are serious about raising rates of economic growth, they must reform the tax mix and increase the workforce participation rates of women and older people. Each of these reforms…
Widening the GST net and boosting workforce participation by women and older people could grow GDP by $70 billion within a decade, according to a report by independent think-tank the Grattan Institute…
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 of…
It is a shame that the GST is off the menu at October’s Tax Forum, because one of its central tenets – the exemption of basic food and beverages – deserves to be debated again. The exemption is basically…