Business tax reform in Australia. Includes analysis by local and overseas industry experts of past tax reforms, our current business tax system and potential future developments as canvassed by the Australian Government's Future Tax System Review (Henry Review)

The proliferation of exempt supplies in VAT systems, particularly the traditional European VAT, undermines the integrity of the tax in many respects. Exempt supplies bear a tax burden equal to the input tax imposed along the supply chain up to the exempt supply. This leads to overtaxation of...

While it is now generally accepted that some redistribution of economic power is a legitimate goal of government, there is no consensus as to the type of redistribution that should be pursued. In the absence of a clear redistributive goal, it is impossible to evaluate critically current law, or...

Looking back on the evolution of taxation reform in developed economies over the post-war period, we observe that the early decades were marked by a determined effort to implement reforms based on Haig-Simons principles of a comprehensive income taxation. Under this approach all the various...

The unprecedented economic changes taking place in China over the past three decades have led to significant new fiscal pressures for the central and provincial governments. The relative decline of public ownership and rise of the private sector has forced governments to substitute revenues from...

Tax reviews are not a new phenomenon in Australia. Since 1950, in addition to several reviews by Parliamentary committees and government — appointed officials or bodies, including the Australian National Audit Office, the Inspector-General of Taxation, and the Board of Taxation, tax has been...

In the 1970s, the Australian income tax system was subject to a wave of avoidance and evasion unprecedented in this country and probably unmatched anywhere else in the world. The episode cost revenue billions of dollars, did untold damage to the social fabric of our country and permanently...