TAXATION – GOVERNMENT POLICY – AUSTRALIA

Super tax plan risks $25bn exodus

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Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 24-Apr-25

Financial services industry veteran Geoff Wilson says Labor’s proposed tax on the unrealised capital gains of superannuation funds is the ‘sleeper’ issue of the federal election campaign. He adds that the policy should be enough for Labor to lose office on 3 May. Labor intends to set the threshold at $3m, but the Greens will demand that it be reduced to $2m in return for supporting it. Wilson says he is receiving enquires from clients about shifting money from self-managed super funds into property due to concerns about the proposed tax, and he estimates that around 24,500 members of SMSFs could seek to withdraw money to avoid the threshold.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Dutton’s tax oath

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Original article by Paul McIntyre, Dennis Shanahan
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 17-Apr-25

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has indicated that income tax reform will be one of his long-term goals if the Coalition wins the election on 3 May. He has identified tax indexation as an issue that he particularly wants to address, arguing that ‘bracket creep’ stifles productivity, ­entrepreneurialism and hard work. However, Dutton has emphasised that returning the budget to surplus would be the priority in the first term of a Coalition government, given that Labor has forecast deficits for the next decade. Dutton likens his approach to that of John Howard and Peter Costello in the 1990s, whereby they focused on budget repair during their first term in office before putting tax reform on their second-term agenda.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Investors urge ALP not to extend tax on unrealised gains

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Original article by John Kehoe
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 16-Apr-25

The federal government is continuing to attract scrutiny over its plans to tax the unrealised gains of superannuation funds. The controversial proposal is part of Labor’s push to double the tax rate of super funds with balances exceeding $3m. A coalition of groups representing self-funded retirees, small businesses and farmers has issued a joint statement urging Labor to rule out any move to expand the unrealised gains tax beyond superannuation. The industry coalition contends that taxing unrealised gains is confiscation rather than reform.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Chalmers to press on with super tax hike

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Original article by Jack Quail
The Australian – Page: 2 : 18-Dec-24

Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the federal government has no plans to tighten tax concessions, although it intends to proceed with its existing tax reform agenda. This includes legislation to double the tax rate on the earnings of superannuation funds whose balance exceeds $3m; the legislation has been stalled in the Senate amid a push by both the Greens and crossbenchers for amendments. Meanwhile, the Treasury’s annual Tax Expenditures and Insights Statement shows that superannuation tax concessions are expected to cost the federal budget about $55.2bn in 2024-25.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS

Negative gearing in Labor’s sights as Albanese readies for election battle

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Original article by James Massola, David Crowe
The Age – Page: Online : 25-Sep-24

Several federal government sources have confirmed that Labor is considering potential changes to the negative gearing regime ahead of the upcoming election. One of the government officials has indicated that the Treasury has been asked to undertake modelling on possible reform options. Treasury is not believed to be considering the changes to the negative gearing and capital gains tax regimes that former Labor leader Bill Shorten took to the 2016 and 2019 elections.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Company tax cut will shift pain to others

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 6 : 4-Jun-24

Australia’s company tax rate of 30 per cent is currently the third-highest among OECD nations, and Industry Minister Ed Husic recently suggested that it should be reduced. However, Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy contends that any tax changes should be revenue-neutral, adding that a reduction in the company tax rate would need to be offset by an increase in other taxes. Kennedy also rejected calls for income thresholds to be adjusted every year to combat ‘bracket creep’. Meanwhile, Kennedy says that national accounts data to be released on Wednesday will show that the Australian economy was
"very weak" at the start of 2024.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF INDUSTRY, SCIENCE AND RESOURCES, ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

Tax reform needed to break economic inertia

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 20-May-24

A new report from the Liberal-aligned thinktank Blueprint Institute has called for various reforms to Australia’s tax system in order to put an end to what it calls the nation’s economic inertia. The thinktank’s proposals include a tax on the unimproved value of land, a reduction in the company tax rate to 25 per cent, the scrapping of state-based payroll taxes and increasing the GST to 15 per cent, along with expanding the goods and services that it applies to. The Blueprint Institute claims that an extra $60 billion a year could be raised if the GST is increased to 15 per cent and its base is broadened.

CORPORATES
BLUEPRINT INSTITUTE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Tax reform needed to break economic inertia

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 13 : 20-May-24

A new report from the Liberal-aligned thinktank Blueprint Institute has called for various reforms to Australia’s tax system in order to put an end to what it calls the nation’s economic inertia. The thinktank’s proposals include a tax on the unimproved value of land, a reduction in the company tax rate to 25 per cent, the scrapping of state-based payroll taxes and increasing the GST to 15 per cent, along with expanding the goods and services that it applies to. The Blueprint Institute claims that an extra $60 billion a year could be raised if the GST is increased to 15 per cent and its base is broadened.

CORPORATES
BLUEPRINT INSTITUTE, LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Australians flattened by biggest tax increase in world

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Original article by Shane Wright
The Sydney Morning Herald – Page: Online : 26-Apr-24

Data from the OECD shows that the amount of income tax paid by the average wage-earner in Australia rose by 7.6 per cent in 2023. New Zealand ranked second among developed nations with an average tax increase of 4.5 per cent. The OECD says the decision to phase out the low- and middle-income tax offset contributed to the sharp rise in Australians’ personal income tax bills in 2023-24. The temporary measure was part of the former Coalition government’s stage-three tax cuts package.

CORPORATES
ORGANISATION FOR ECONOMIC CO-OPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT

‘Every taxpayer wins’: PM hails stage three victory

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 28-Feb-24

The federal government’s changes to the legislated stage-three personal income tax were passed by the Senate with bipartisan support on Tuesday night. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese contends that 84 per cent of Australians will get a bigger tax cut than they would have via the original version of the former Coalition government’s tax package. The government can be expected to capitalise on the stage-three changes in the final days of campaigning for the Dunkley by-election; Albanese says the changes are a win for "every single taxpayer" in the Melbourne electorate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET