For those who have been on the tax reform journey, we know that regardless of who we represent, we bear the scars from one or more failed reform processes. And while scars are exactly that, we should all be striving to learn from those failures and approach this opportunity with lessons to share and an openness to understanding where others’ bruises remain.

For large companies, the most recent tax reform “lesson” was the 2012 Business Tax Working Group. Established by treasurer Wayne Swan in response to the 2011 Tax Forum, the terms of reference asked the working group (made up of business groups, the tax advisory profession, academia, unions and the public service) to make recommendations on how the Australian business tax system could be improved, with priority given to consideration of a cut to the company tax rate as part of a package that would be revenue-neutral.