Reports & Papers
Realising the Potential for Tax Reform
14 June 2009
The BCA has launched its final submission to the Henry review of taxation, titled Unrealised Gains: The Competitive Possibilities of Tax Reform, which sets out a long-term vision for tax reforms that drive economic growth.
The submission calls for a tax system that maximises community wealth.
Among the reforms proposed in Unrealised Gains are lower corporate tax and lower taxes on local savings, measures that support a shift in focus over time away from taxing the means of production to taxing consumption.
In the tougher economic environment of the next decade, our biggest growth opportunity will come from attracting a larger share of scarce global investment capital.
Lower corporate tax and lower tax on local savings will boost investment. And higher investment in turn will raise productivity, wages and living standards over the next 20 years.
As the population ages we must also reduce Australia’s reliance on income taxes over time and consider the potential for indirect taxes to underpin stronger growth.
In March 2010, in anticipation of the release of the Henry tax review findings, the BCA released five high-level principles for taxation reform, which again argued that Australia needs a principled response to tax reform.
The five high-level principles build on the Unrealised Gains submission. The BCA will use those principles to provide an initial response to the Henry review and to judge the tax reform policies of all political parties.