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SA Bank Tax: Bankers Association and State Government trade complaints

BANKERS have been forced to change a single number on their website after Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis complained to the Electoral Commission.

BANKERS have been forced to change a single number on their website after Treasurer Tom Koutsantonis complained to the Electoral Commission.

But the banks have hit back with their own complaint, as the State Government’s war against the big banks heats up.

The Australian Bankers Association changed the text on its website opposing the bank tax, www.jobsnottaxes.com.au, after Mr Koutsantonis complained because it featured an unemployment rate that was five months out of date.

He claimed the ABA sent out a “dodgy smear” against South Australia, by wrongly stating the state’s unemployment rate was 6.9 per cent.

It is understood the website launched in September, four months after the unemployment rate was last that high.

SA’s seasonally adjusted rate is now 5.8 per cent.

Australian Bankers' Association release new SA Bank Tax advertisement

The ABA said it promptly removed the figure after it was contacted by Electoral Commissioner Mick Sherry.

But it is preparing to refer a letter from Premier Jay Weatherill to Mr Sherry for making “false and misleading statements”.

In the letter to a constituent, Mr Weatherill said the big banks “do not pay GST”.

Westpac paid $267 million in GST in 2016, with the ABA estimating the banks collectively pay more than $1 billion in GST each year.

“Banks pay GST. The Premier and Treasurer should cease perpetuating this falsehood,” the ABA spokeswoman said.

Mr Koutsantonis said he’d “consistently” argued the banks were undertaxed because GST doesn’t apply to financial services.

The banks also defended the use of an actor in its advertisements against the bank tax.

The man has an IMDB page and has appeared in a series of bottleshop ads, but the ABA said he was airing his personal views and was not paid.

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Original URL: https://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/sa-bank-tax-bankers-association-and-state-government-trade-complaints/news-story/f8374fda0aa8cc8585bca91e467e6f68