The existing tax fails to capture a fair share of our vast gas exports.
- Deputy Director and Associate Professor, Centre of Policy Studies, Victoria University
Is Australia finally getting serious about tax reform, or just testing the waters?
The changes announced by the prime minister won’t help with supply and are poorly targeted.
The last cut in the fuel excise cost $5 billion. A temporary tax on gas exports could provide more targeted relief for households.
A proposal to change the mix of company taxes would lead to higher national income over time by collecting more from foreign investors.
If state and federal governments replaced inefficient taxes with better designed ones, households would be at least $900 better off.
Stamp duty costs Victorians about $9 billion a year. There are more efficient ways to tax property.
For the Commonwealth, the best measure is rent assistance. For the states, it’s a mix of two-thirds first homebuyer grants and one-third stamp duty discounts.
Economists have long advocated replacing stamp duty with land tax. We find that the implications for housing prices depends on whether you own a house or an apartment.
Australia will be in the box seat for foreign investment, with or without a company tax cut.
At the margin, more compulsory super will mean less equity in homes and more borrowing for homes. Australia already has one of the world’s highest household debt ratios.
On Q&A, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive James Pearson said almost 60% of small business owners in Australia are paid $50,000 or less. Is that right?
What critics of the plan to use superannuation for housing miss is that Australia’s super system already channels a significant proportion of retirement savings into housing.
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