“Labor snuck into government and have now shown their true colours by belling the cat on their new $50 billion tax on Aussie super,” he added, demanding that the government explain who commissioned the PBO modelling.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones: “Mr Robert should confine his outrage to his colleagues.” Alex Ellinghausen
But the modelling was commissioned by a former Liberal member of parliament, not Labor, as part of a broader look at the superannuation system, and does not form part of any party’s policy development process.
In the costing, the PBO said it had “not consulted with or drawn any policy details from a policy of any other political party or individual parliamentarian in the preparation of this costing. Accordingly, if you make this costing public, it would not be appropriate to attribute the costing to a policy of any other party or individual parliamentarian.”
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones said Labor certainly did not commission the modelling, and that “Mr Robert should confine his outrage to his colleagues”.
But tax breaks for superannuation, along with housing, trusts, stocks and private health insurance are costing the federal government budget billions of dollars a year, according to a list compiled by the Treasury.
Superannuation tax breaks cost the budget more than $45 billion a year – for concessional earnings ($22.6 billion), contributions ($20.5 billion) and capital gains ($2.6 billion).
Treasury Secretary Steven Kennedy said this week that the $80 billion budget deficit and $1 trillion debt should be fixed by controlling spending as well as examining potential revenue measures that clamp down on “tax planning”.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers wants the annual Treasury tax expenditures statement to be more transparent, to enable the public to better understand the distribution of tax breaks, including the impact on future generations.
Dr Chalmers has also “made it clear” that Labor’s “tax reform priority is to be part of international developments to ensure multinationals pay a fairer share of tax where they make their profits”.
With Labor ruling out tax increases during its election campaign, except on multinationals, the government might find itself politically limited in its options to recoup extra revenue by closing loopholes during this term. Based on Mr Robert’s response, the Coalition, too, is limiting its revenue-raising options.
Comments
Post a Comment