Albanese shies away from reforms as Treasury says company taxes are hurting wages

The federal Treasury has conceded Australia’s current company tax system is contributing to the nation’s poor productivity performance and hurting workers’ wages, while warning young people will increasingly shoulder the pain of propping up the budget.

But hopes of a major overhaul of the tax system emerging from Labor’s economic summit have been dampened by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“The only tax policy that we’re implementing, is the one that we took to the election, and indeed the one that the Coalition voted against on the floor of the parliament, which is – we’re reducing income taxes,” Albanese said on Thursday.

The remarks undermine calls for major tax reform, such as business groups’ push for company tax cuts, the Productivity Commission’s suggestion of a groundbreaking cashflow tax to spur innovation and independent MP Kate Chaney’s plan for a broader GST to be offset with cash handouts.

In an issues paper to set the roundtable’s tone, Treasury said there were growing problems with current tax arrangements, including inconsistent taxation of “passive income” such as capital gains and superannuation investment.

It noted Australia’s current top company tax rate of 30 per cent was “relatively high” by international standards, backing complaints from business groups that the tax system was hurting all Australians.

“Company tax settings can also distort business decisions and disincentivise investment, which can result in lower productivity, fewer jobs and lower wages,” it found.

The department, however, warned that the entire tax system was under pressure from “demographic and economic shifts”.

Those shifts include a drop in the share of revenue raised from indirect taxes such as the GST, tobacco and fuel excise, which Treasury warned were likely to fall further due to technological change over the coming years.

Ordinary workers, who already account for more than 50 per cent of government revenue through personal income tax, face even more tax pain.

Young workers would be worst hit as the number of people over the age of 70 paying tax had fallen over the past three decades due to previous governments’ policies.

“A smaller share of the Australian population are set to shoulder the burden of generating income tax revenue as the population ages,” it said.

Not only will fewer workers pay more, but without government intervention, bracket creep will push up effective tax rates on those who are in employment. Those high rates would act as a disincentive to some people from taking on a job or improving their skills, while they would also encourage people to engage in creative tax planning.

Chaney, the WA independent MP, has proposed a “progressive GST” to overhaul the tax system and increase revenue to the Commonwealth, adding to the push from people outside the government for substantial tax reform.

This week, Treasurer Jim Chalmers said it would be a “great outcome” if after the roundtable the government had a series of ideas that it “could work through in the context of the next couple of budgets”.

On Thursday, Albanese, who has effectively rejected any GST changes, noted a range of ideas would be floated before the roundtable, which starts on August 19.

“Governments make government policy, and our tax policy, the only tax policy that we’re implementing, is the one that we took to the election,” he said.

The ACTU and the social service sector have called on the government to wind back property tax concessions including negative gearing and capital gains tax.

But Albanese made clear the government was focused on its current tax settings.

“I’ve said what our tax policy is, it’s very clear what it is. It’s very clear what it isn’t as well,” he said.

Greens economic justice spokesman Nick McKim described Chaney’s proposal as a “lazy idea”.

“If we want to make people’s lives better, we should make big corporations pay their fair share of tax and use the revenue to provide genuine cost of living relief,” he said.

One key area of the economic roundtable will be ways to reduce red tape and cut bureaucracy costs.

The Productivity Commission, in a report to be released on Friday, found aligning product safety standards used in Australia with international standards could lift GDP by between $1.9 billion and $3.8 billion a year.

It found most standards used in state or federal legislation were specific to Australia when existing international standards could be used instead.

The commission used the example of bicycle helmets, which are almost all imported.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission estimated in 2016 that businesses would save $14 million a year if helmet standards mirrored those imposed by the European Union and the United States.

But it was not until 2024 that the standard was revised in line with the EU and US, with most states and territories yet to adopt the change.

“The net result is that eight years after realising the value of harmonisation, most Australians are yet to see benefits from this harmonisation,” the commission found.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said regulatory reform was high on the government’s agenda as it could make the economy more productive and competitive.

“Standards reform could save Australians billions of dollars every year and ease the burden on businesses,” he said.

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