Dear Social Justice Committee You
will have heard that the Federal Government is moving to reform
Australia’s Taxation system. And there is certainly a case for positive
tax reform. But there are also proposals being proposed that are of
concern to the Society and the people we assist. Today the Treasurer released a Taxation Discussion paper: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tax-white-paper-treasury-urges-more-gst-less-income-tax-20150329-1maeco.html This
taxation conversation that we’ve been promised by the Government will
be of significant interest to the Society as a number of proposals /
options on the table have the potential to positively or negatively
affect those we assist. The
Society’s National Council will undoubtedly be preparing a submission
over coming weeks (with submissions due by May) and we will have an
opportunity to provide input. At this early stage, here are just some of the key issues that will concern our Society: · Raising
the GST or extending it to cover currently exempt items such as food,
health and education. This is of concern as the GST is a regressive tax
that will hit the poorest the hardest. The Society advocated every hard
in the 90s to the have food excluded from the GST. The argument to raise
GST in return for lower income taxes won’t help those living on the
margins! · The
prospect of reforming negative gearing and capital gains tax
concessions is a potential positive, as these concessions currently
stimulate speculative investment in the property market and forego the
Government Billions of dollars every year. Tightening these tax
concessions is a much better way to balance the budget than to cut
spending to the most vulnerable people in our communities. · Superannuation
tax concessions must also be reformed as they currently give a big
concessions to those on high incomes that least need it and this costs
the Government over $30 billion in foregone revenue every year. For interest, ACOSS issued this statement today…… I am looking forward to the conversation continuing over coming weeks and months. Kind regards Lukas |
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