Taxation
Taxation is an important part of economic policy – not only in raising revenue for governments to spend, but also in influencing private saving, investment and spending decisions, and for affecting the distribution of income and wealth. Decisions as to what is (or isn’t taxed), and at what rate, are always controversial, and sometimes have unintended consequences.
Danielle Wood must help undo GST deal
News, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 30th November 2023The Australian Financial Review has published an op-ed from me on the changes to the arrangements for distributing the revenue from the GST among the states and territories imposed by the Morrison Government in 2018 (with the support of the then Labor Opposition) – something which I regard as one of the worst public policy […]
Danielle Wood, the Productivity Commission and the horizontal fiscal equalization (HFE)
Economic Policies, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 13th November 2023The changes to the way in which revenues from the GST are carved up among the states and territories imposed by the Morrison Government in 2019 (with the support of the then Labor Opposition) represent, IMHO, one of the worst pieces of public policy-making in Australia in at least 25 years. Among many other flaws, […]
Will reductions in land tax make any difference to rents?
Tasmania, Taxation | 2nd March 2022The Tasmanian Government’s announcement, in the first week of March 2022, of forthcoming changes to the land tax scale have prompted a raft of commentary, much of it not very well informed, on the effects of land tax and the likely impact of the changes proposed by the Government on rents. This note explains why […]
The costs and consequences of ‘small business fetishism’
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Publications, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 10th December 2021Article published in the December 2021 edition of Agenda, the journal of the Australian National University’s School of Economics.
The ‘corrupt bargain’ underpinning WA’s budget surpluses
Australian Society and Politics, Economic Policies, Taxation | 16th September 2021Article published in the Australian Financial Review on 16th September 2021, examining the way in which Western Australia’s budget surpluses are being bolstered at the expense of the rest of Australia by the ‘corrupt bargain’ over shares of revenue from the GST imposed by the Morrison Government three years ago
Reflections on the 2021 Intergenerational Report
Economic Policies, Taxation, The Australian Economy | 15th August 2021The 2021 IGR, released some six weeks ago, suggests that Australia will be running budget deficits for the next 40 years. But that’s only because of the quite arbitrary assumption that tax collections will remain ‘capped’ at 23.9% of GDP, forever more. There’s no reason why that should be the case.
Negative Gearing and Capital Gains Tax (again)
Australian Society and Politics, Housing, News, Taxation | 4th August 2021Saul talks to National Radio News’ political reporter Amanda Copp about tax policy and housing, following the Australian Labor Party’s decision to abandon the policies it took to the past two elections (in 2016 and 2019) of abolishing ‘negative gearing’ (the long-standing provision in Australia’s tax code whereby investors in property, or other assets, can […]
Victoria doing ‘a lot of damage to its image’ of being desirable place to live
Economic Policies, News, Taxation | 18th May 2021Saul talks to Sky News Australia‘s Laura Jayes about Victorian Government property tax proposals
