Tax RamblingThe report will I think make it almost impossible politically for this government to sell its austerity program or its GST “reform” proposals. The mantra that Australia has a spending problem, not a revenue problem, looks hollow in the light of the low tax contribution from big business. And so Fairfax runs the same argument […]
The Greens have done it again. When you put out a press release titled “Axing just 4 unfair tax breaks would plug Budget revenue hole” you are going to get me excited. With a yearly budget deficit of $35-40 billion I was desperate to see what 4 tax breaks can raise this amount each year. But it […]
Why does “innovation” have anything to do with tax changes? In the Government’s Innovation Statement most of the expenditure is making tax changes. Tax is a revenue raising device… Not a method to change people’s actions. When you use tax policy to do anything other than raise revenue you get bad policy. But here are […]
It has been out for a while, but there is some draft law that proposes big changes to GST. The first part of the draft Tax Laws Amendment (GST treatment of Cross-Border Transactions) Bill is exactly as we expected… The government will impose GST on offshore intangible supplies to Australian consumers from 1 July 2017. […]
Each December I try to wrap up the year with the tax promises that have not quite made it into law. While the list has VERY, VERY SLOWLY, getting shorter, there are still a number of measures that are yet to get in to the tax laws. And remember, after the last election, this Government […]
It is stupid tax policy made worse… From 1 July 2016 there will be a 10% non-final withholding tax on payments made to foreign residents that dispose of certain property. The effect of this will be that where a foreign resident disposes of Australian property, the purchaser will be required to withhold and pay to […]
