The government wants to increase the Medicare levy to help support the national disability insurance scheme. Amber Jamieson and Sasha Petrova report on politicians’ historical love of levies.
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TAXATION
How to be a bad sport and move to a tax haven
Some of our true-blue sporting heroes seem to be taking up residency in countries with favourable tax arrangements. But how easy is it to do? Crikey intern Kylar Loussikian finds it may not work for him.
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Crikey calling: who’s afraid of the budget deficit?
The federal budget is less than three weeks away and pollies are gearing up for a future of budget deficits. But does it have to be this way? Canberra correspondent Bernard Keane talks forward estimates with Crikey deputy editor Cathy Alexander.
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ATO whistleblower bully case points to ‘tick and flick’ advice
Australian Taxation Office Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo is being personally sued in a workplace bullying claim that exposes a “tick and flick” attitude to taxpayer objections.
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Dear preventative health wowsers: stop taking the piss
Some persistent themes run through campaigns by the preventive health lobby to ban and tax things. But should these taxpayer-funded elites be allowed to crack down on what they disapprove of?
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Glencore, Xstrata and making a motza from emerging food panic
Glencore is looking to rising food prices as way to offset recent declines in minerals prices.
READ MOREAre you on the ATO hit list this year?
Tax Commissioner Michael D’Ascenzo yesterday announced the Australian Taxation Office hit list, writes Chris Seage, a tax consultant and former ATO audit manager.
READ MOREATO leading the world in discriminating against Mac users
Australia is one of the few countries in the world that continues to discriminate against Mac and Linux users when it comes to tax filing.
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Checking the docket on how expensive it is to do business in Oz
The business claim that the government is making Australia more expensive to invest is is completely wrong.
READ MORETax forum demonstrates Labor has already failed
Even for tax policy fanatics it’s hard to get excited about the two-day tax forum. Given Labor’s failure to adopt the Henry tax review, the prospect of meaningful change is slim, says Adam Creighton.
READ MOREKohler: a smudge on Henry’s tax blueprint
It’s hard to imagine anything at all coming from tomorrow’s tax forum when we have a deeply unpopular minority government committed to a $47.7 billion budget turnaround within two years.
READ MORECox: social and gender equity way down on the tax forum agenda
It appears social and gender equity will be well down the tax forum agenda.
READ MOREParticipation and mobility dominate Tax Forum paper
Wayne Swan has released the government discussion paper for its Tax Forum in October.
READ MOREWhy abolishing negative gearing makes complete sense
Negative gearing is a poorly thought out policy which benefits a wealthy minority and penalizes the majority of Australians, both young and old.
READ MOREGlencore and the cautionary tale of Zambia
While a transnational company was ripping off Zambia, the mining industry here was claiming it was a model for Australia.
READ MOREWhen tax sends a powerful message of official values
Taxation is an essential part of our support for the public sphere.
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Labor’s opportunity to curb pokies
The Labor Party has a perfect opportunity in Canberra to demonstrate that it really does believe in the need to curb the problem of addiction to poker machine.
READ MOREHockey is right about trusts
Joe Hockey’s maladroitness has struck again, but at least he shows some evidence of life in the policy department.
READ MOREThe road to the CPRS: mark V
The government’s carbon price scheme is looking more and more like the CPRS. And polluters may come to rue that Labor ever abandoned the original.
READ MORECarbon price: Garnaut backs Labor’s scheme
Ross Garnaut’s latest updates backs the Labor-Greens carbon pricing model - but hands Labor an unexpected boost in the looming battle over industry compensation.
READ MOREKen Henry’s unfulfilled legacy
Ken Henry can leave Treasury knowing he was responsible for one of the greatest public policy successes since Federation, the response to the GFC. It’s a pity both sides of politics treated him poorly.
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US study widens the mining companies’ credibility gap
In a fierce debate of claim and counter-claim, it’d be handy to have some independent analysis of what tax mining companies actually pay. Luckily, the US National Bureau of Economic Research has done it.
READ MOREHenry Review: What about the land tax that Henry proposed?
In contrast to the Henry report’s advice that payroll tax be eventually abolished, the Rudd government has decided to increase its own payroll tax, writes Gavin R. Putland.
READ MOREHenry Review: Super increase will hurt low income earners
The raising the super guarantee level to 12% is a sop to the super industry, the ACTU, and a return to Paul Keating’s dream. However, it ignores the serious questions of equity that make extra super not particularly desirable for those on low and intermittent incomes.
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With hospitals out of the way, will Rudd turn to taxation?
Kevin Rudd has achieved enough at his COAG meeting to defuse health and hospitals as an election campaign negative for Labor. Now it’s time to tackle taxation. Plus, the budget deficit, mortgage rates and other business news.
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