InSight’s writers delve into Australia’s tax system and call for an opening of the minds and a little widening of the pockets. They uncover uncomfortable truths and reconnect the tax debate with our fundamental assumptions about what Australia’s future should look like.

The tax review led by Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has received its final submissions, but the tussle over who should bear the costs and reap the benefits of tax reform has barely begun. The review posed some difficult questions – can it deliver difficult answers?

Five Ideas in Five Minutes

As the Henry tax review gains momentum, here is a discussion of a few concepts and issues that provide some background for a meaningful debate on tax reform. I also have a novel idea (presented in the usual 5 in 5 format) to get you thinking about possible changes to Australia’s taxation system. 1) To regress or progress? It goes without saying that the debate over tax reform is particularly polarised and often ideologically driven. … more

A view from the ‘tanks’

    Public debates on taxation in other countries can lose a little in translation – being necessarily specific to local arrangements.  We’ve sifted through current research from our counterpart think tanks in the US and UK to bring you some fresh ideas and the best of current thought on some of the more relevant tax issues. Further Reading: Current papers on taxation from US and UK think tanks  Institute of Fiscal Studies (UK) Major … more

THE LATERALIST: Social super funds?

  Tax review time. Word processors are going late into the night. Great new ideas, average old ones and raft of pet projects are being dusted off, dubiously modeled, and cobbled together. Yet tax systems – even the best of them – are often blunt instruments when it comes to achieving larger goals.  How do we best manage the need for collective investment in the social, environmental or cultural life of our communities? There are … more

 

Taxation, Social Justice and Economic Development

  This is an edited version of an address to the Annual Congress of the Australian Council of Social Service, April 3rd 2009, by Julian Disney, Director, Social Justice Project, University of NSW Main Points The tax system is not just used to raise revenue but to deliver financial benefits, tax concessions and exemptions and promote specific economic activity This means that it affects every aspect of our lives, not just our take home income … more

Good Policy Isn’t Always Enough

In politics, selling a tax cut is easier than selling just about anything else. Tax cuts are simple and simplicity sells. But tax cuts aren’t a universal remedy for economic ailments, the sole effective driver of growth and prosperity or capable of achieving targeted policy outcomes, like reducing carbon emissions. Yet around the world the siren-song of tax cuts has helped conservatives lure voters and demonise their opponents. Why and how this happens matters, because … more

Death and taxes

Death and taxes; teabag parties, ‘bogan bonuses’. Tax, it would appear, is a perennial and ubiquitous topic. Often overlooked, though, is the emotional power of tax. We get excited when we get a return, we hate filling in forms and collecting GST. We whinge, we chat, we splurge. In short, we take tax very personally. Historically, taxation has been the central interface between citizen and the state. Sophisticated ancient empires rested on administrative control and … more

 

The ethical basis of a good tax system

‘Q 1.1 In considering the community’s aspirations for the type of society that Australia should become over the next two decades and beyond, which key features should inform or drive the future design of the Australian tax‑transfer system?’ This question opens the Henry Tax Review’s list of hints for writing submissions to an inquiry which will hopefully result in a major overhaul of Australian taxation and payments system. It is an important question, because it … more

Tax: A Broader Mission

An unstated assumption behind the Henry Tax Review is that there will be no fundamental change in the Australian economy in coming years. Its focus therefore is on a set of technical tasks, including attending to perverse incentives which cause economic misallocation, reducing inequities, and simplifying what has become a very complex set of laws and regulations. But a question which policy makers should be addressing is whether we are asking our tax and transfer … more

InSight Edition | May 2009 | Chipping in: Taxation for our Times

InSight’s writers delve into Australia’s tax system and call for an opening of the minds and a little widening of the pockets. They uncover uncomfortable truths and reconnect the tax debate with our fundamental assumptions about what Australia’s future should look like. The tax review led by Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has received its final submissions, but the tussle over who should bear the costs and reap the benefits of tax reform has barely begun. … more