Tax reform in Australia over the last 25 years has seen two major
peaks of significant reforms with the introduction of new tax
measures.
- First, in the years 1986 and 1987, major tax reform measures
implemented after the 1985
Tax Summit included the introduction of the capital gains
tax, the fringe benefits tax, the imputation system of taxing
company dividends, the removal of the exemption from income
tax of foreign income, and the introduction of the self-assessment
regime in stages.
- Second, in the years 1999 and 2000, the implementation of
the tax reform measures in the A New
Tax System (ANTS) package included the introduction
of the goods-and-services tax (GST) and the repeal of the
wholesale sales tax, as well as the repeal of several state
and territory taxes under the intergovernmental agreement
that accompanied the introduction of the GST. Following the
Review of Business Taxation in 1999, significant reforms were
implemented as recommended in the report A
Tax System Redesigned, including the reduction of
the company tax rate to 30 per cent, removal of accelerated
depreciation, introduction of the consolidated regime for
wholly-owned groups of companies, and deferring losses from
non-commercial activities.
These major reforms have been followed by continuous tax reform
to meet various contingencies, such as the prevention of tax
minimisation practices, and the need to deal with the appropriate
tax treatment of new financial products that may have a negative
impact on revenue.
Tax legislation has become complex and voluminous. The compliance
burden to taxpayers—and particularly to small business—has increased,
and tax practitioners face a difficult maze of legislation.
Tax law simplification should therefore be high on the agenda
for tax reforms undertaken by the 42nd Parliament.
Tax integrity, tax minimisation and tax compliance issues will
also continue to be part of the continuous tax reform process.
Reform areas under consideration by the Board of Taxation
According to the Board of Taxation web site,
current activities include:
Reports on all four activities are expected in the second half
of 2007.
|
