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Tax reform

This Month

The Greens performed well in Saturday’s election.

Super tax more likely, Greens stand firm on $2m demand

Election gains by Labor and the Greens make it more likely big superannuation balances will be hit with more tax – and the measure may kick in at $2 million.

Allegra Spender and Zali Steggall warn Labor can’t ease off on reform despite majority.

Daniel in doubt as teals warn Labor’s surge should not make it cocky

Independents, who could make further gains, warn the government could face a backlash if it lets this victory go to its head.

Experts are calling for law reform as the ATO pursues family trusts for innocent mistakes.

The family trust blunder that could send you bankrupt

The tax office is scrutinising family trust distributions dating back decades. Some trustees have been shocked to receive bills worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

April

Could Jim Chalmers’ “super purpose” include a prohibition on future raids on the savings of Australians?

Why your super is the government’s next cash cow

The tax-by-stealth raid needs to be exposed for what it is: a morally dubious cash grab to paper over the government’s own fiscal mismanagement.

Menu shows Albanese’s Pancakes on the Rocks claim doesn’t stack up

The restaurant where the prime minister worked in his student days has imposed public holiday surcharge since at least 1979 – making his claims otherwise seem like waffle.

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The Labor government’s proposal of taxing unrealised gains could have significant repercussions for the Australian housing market by incentivising retirees to shift assets into their primary residence.

Labor’s tax on unrealised gains could wreck your retirement

This new tax warrants rigorous scrutiny and a more comprehensive reassessment before it inflicts lasting damage on our nation’s financial well-being.

Taylor and Chalmers shortly before the debate kicked off.

Debate should’ve been Taylor’s home turf. Chalmers came away smiling

At an event hosted by business, the shadow treasurer defended the Coalition’s tax plans and the incumbent recited Labor’s talking points. CEOs were unimpressed.

Business leaders will be pressing both the Treasurer and Shadow Treasurer for their perspectives on solving the big economic challenges.

When business loses, Australia loses bigger

What the business community hopes to see more than anything is a debate based on policies that support growth, are evidence-based and provide real solutions.

Australian families are being squeezed by the cost-of-living crisis, including increasing childcare fees that show no signs of easing.

The forgotten tax keeping women out of work

Removing fringe benefits tax on employer-subsidised childcare is a no-brainer if we truly care about lifting workforce participation.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says changes to the GST are off the table.

Tax bracket indexation an ‘aspiration’, not policy: Dutton

The opposition leader said his plans to tie personal income tax rates to inflation will not require an election mandate.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton’s signature housing policies were both criticised by economists.

‘Lurching towards collapse’: experts slam Labor and Liberals on tax

Economists and tax experts have panned Labor and the Coalition over election promises, accusing them of breaking with orthodoxy and shirking significant reform.

Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton’s signature housing policies were both criticised by economists.

Politicians are offering cash but aren’t fixing our problems

The world is on fire and Australians need smart policies way more than we need smart politics.

After the lost two decades and a half in Canberra, both major parties are bogged down in the “politics of incrementalism”.

Policy ping-pong won’t deliver housing affordability

A future government will inherit a dog’s breakfast of housing and tax policies and be left to clean up the mess.

Peter Dutton’s proposal will boost housing demand, which given the highly inelastic supply, will simply push prices higher.

Dutton is pursuing a housing subsidy so bad, even Trump killed it

The policy is highly regressive, and will simply boost house prices and blow a huge hole in the personal income tax base that will never be recovered.

Our tax system is a dog’s breakfast. Here’s a 3x3 blueprint to fix it

Three “maxims” to guide the changes. Three “no-regrets” steps either side of politics could institute right away. And three “big-picture” medium-term measures.

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Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor delivers his post-budget reply at the National Press Club in Canberra.

Libs commit to tax reform, but ‘budget repair comes first’

Peter Dutton says waving through the budget tax cuts would have been the easy thing to do, but they were unaffordable.

March

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton needs a credible economic policy agenda to lift productivity and get the budget back in shape.

Dutton losing the political race for lower taxes

Rather than replicate the Howard government’s innovative tax reform thinking, Dutton has instead lazily copied from the less creditable playbook of his political hero.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers delivering the budget

Three budget problems bigger than the puny tax cuts

The pre-election row over the tax cuts is a political distraction from the substantive problems Jim Chalmers’ fourth budget fails to address.

How a $10 billion tobacco tax became a smuggler’s jackpot

Our tobacco policies haven’t made it more expensive to smoke. They’ve actually made it cheaper to smoke.

Labor’s modest cost-of-living relief measure is nothing more than a “cup of coffee” tax cut.

The tax cut that will only buy you a coffee

The Labor government appears to have chosen a cut confined to the lowest rate so that it could stick to its “tax cut for everyone” slogan.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/tax-reform-1mpw