"A Senate inquiry into the Government's proposed tax changes is critical in understanding the impacts on Australian communities and business, and how attractive we are for investment," said Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association, Australian Industry Group.
"The inquiry is unfortunately short but quite frankly better than no consultation or examination of the proposed changes as requested by the Government. The inquiry, while welcome, stands in contrast with the years of thorough public examination of significant tax reform proposals in the 1980s and 1990s which both improved those proposals and garnered public understanding and trust.
"The proposed changes to capital gains and trust taxation as outlined in the budget are misguided in their current form and will negatively impact on businesses of all sizes and types.
"They fail to countenance how they will impact on industry, with businesses struggling to understand how they will work, who will be impacted and how they will achieve their stated objectives. The proposals are retrospective, add complexity and increase uncertainty for all Australian businesses. The budget also demonstrates they will also have no meaningful impact on their claimed purpose of growing our housing stocks.
"There are no accompanying measures, as was discussed at last year's economic roundtable, to address recognised concerns about the structural defects affecting the tax treatment of personal and corporate taxes. Put simply, policymakers and the community must understand the full impacts of the proposal before it is decided to head down a path that fundamentally impacts our business environment for companies of any size.
"The Senate is now doing what the Government should have done before delivering this package – consulting with and getting feedback from industry to ensure any tax changes do not further diminish productivity or harm our standing as an attractive place to invest and grow a business," Mr Willox said.
