Abused public servants help bring Turnbull down
There's no clearer sign that the Turnbull government is in deep political trouble than the never-ending saga of the Centrelink robo-debt stuff-up.
Federal Budget news
Budget battle as Treasurer won't commit to saving mining windfall
Australia's top economic bureaucrat has begged the government not to spend the coming windfall from soaring coal and iron ore prices, saying if it did it would repeat the mistakes of prime minister John Howard and treasurer Peter Costello in the early 2000s.
Australian economy grows by 1.1 per cent, beating expectations
Australia has avoided a second consecutive quarter of negative economic growth, rising by 1.1 per cent in the December quarter and beating market expectations.
The simple fix to make high-earning investors pay $240m more tax
High earners are negatively gearing their way out of the Medicare levy.
Cut the company tax rate, says Treasury boss John Fraser
Treasury boss John Fraser has implored Parliament to consider cutting the company tax rate, saying it would be "critical" to respond to international competition.
Company tax cut payoff will 'take years'
The Turnbull Government proposed company tax cut would cut national income for years before it boosted it and would never be self-funding, a new analysis from the Grattan Institute has found.
All high earners to pay Medicare levy surcharge under budget proposal
All high income Australians would pay the 1 to 1.5 per cent Medicare Levy Surcharge under a budget proposal that would raise a breathtaking $4 billion per year, more than 6 times the net amount saved in the first Turnbull budget.
I've been Trumped – and it is so very embarrassing
"Alternative facts" make it hard to develop a rational attitude about government revenue, expenditure and the future of Australia.
Memo Scott Morrison: there ain't no jam jars
What's this about a "locked box"?
No budget bonanza: Forecasting panel sees weak year ahead
Few of Australia's leading economists expect the government to deliver the cut in the budget deficit promised.
Economists believe commodity run is probably done
It is rare to find much unanimity among economists, but one of the few things they agree on is that the trough in commodity prices of 2016 will not be repeated. The question for now is how far will prices retreat, especially following the March quarter, which often marks a cyclical high.
Resource spending downturn yet to bottom
The collapse in resource sector investment has yet to run its course, with the looming completion of as much as $100 million of spending on gas export projects to slash the level of engineering construction to the lowest level since 2009, a report by Deloitte Access Economics has found.
Cutting company tax won't drive investment: Australia Institute
New research ridicules the prime minister's claim that cutting the company tax rate will boost foreign investment, pointing out that almost all of Australia's foreign investment applications come from countries with much lower tax rates.
Australia's biggest tax break: you're sitting in it
The family home has eclipsed superannuation as Australia's biggest tax break.
How the Tax Commissioner was leant on to deliver high-end tax cuts
When Scott Morrison rose in Parliament to promise high-end tax cuts, he knew he faced a powerful obstacle.
MP urges Morrison to extend $20,000 instant asset writeoff
A popular Abbott government initiative could be given more time if the Small Business Minister gets his way.
Company tax cuts wrong move, says Costello
Proposed cuts to company tax have come under fire from former federal treasurer Peter Costello for being less effective at boosting the economy than personal tax cuts.
Call that a budget improvement? The ratings agencies won't
The ratings agencies won't fall for it, and neither should you.
What's a AAA credit rating and why does it matter?
What is this rating, where does it come from and does it matter? Your AAA-rating questions answered.
A soft drink tax will make us less fat. But here's what it will do to prices
The United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, France, Fiji, Mexico, South Africa and parts of America have sugar taxes. Australia could be next.
End the age of entitlement - for seniors
Australia's tax system has become skewed towards a growing and apparently untouchable group of 'taxed nots' - they are older Australians who pay roughly $1 billion per year less tax than younger Australians in the same circumstances, according to a new Grattan Institute report.
$24 billion budget blowout. Government to confirm the worst on December 19
Much lower than expected wage growth has knocked a hole in the government's budget projections, blowing out deficits right through until 2019-20.
Reagan guru says Trump will usher in new boom era
DONALD TRUMP'S plan for sweeping tax cuts and deregulation will spur a US economic boom that could "last for generations" if the president-elect resists a lurch towards protectionism
Illegal 'cash-in-hand' payments on the rise
More than 5500Â workers dob in their bosses to the Australian Taxation Office every year for allegedly paying them "cash in hand".
ATO settlements with big companies dive
In an attempt to avoid lengthy disputes, the Australian Taxation Office cut more deals in the 2015-16 financial year, but the dollar value of those settlements dived, largely because a backlog of old disputes with companies have come to an end.
Photo finish for Melbourne Cup day rate cut
Lower than expected underlying inflation has two market economists predicting a Melbourne Cup Day rate cut, although neither with much conviction.
Forget big tax cuts, say Telstra and Virgin Australia bosses
The bosses of two large companies have poured cold water on the federal government's broader push to drop corporate tax rates.
Eyes on RBA as underlying inflation slips
Australia's annual inflation rate climbed to 1.3 per cent in September, but the underlying rates, used to guide the Reserve Bank, fell
Rebounding BHP blasts Australian critics
The good times are starting to roll for BHP Billiton as higher commodity prices are helping to fatten its bottom line.
Business group lashes PM over deficit, tax scare campaign
Six months ago the business-backed Committee for the Economic Development of Australia presented the Turnbull government with what it said was a clear and practical plan to return the budget to surplus. There were 5 of them in fact, including different mixes of proposals such as better taxing superannuation contributions, halving the tax discount for capital gains, ending negative gearing, boosting taxes on luxury cars, alcohol and tobacco, and taxing the private health insurance rebate.
Resources export surge tipped on higher prices
Resurgent prices rather than volumes has prompted a key government forecaster to hike its view of Australia's resources and energy exports in the year ahead
Super tax fairness is the key to budget repair
Scott Morrison can use scare tactics in seeking greater support for his task of getting the budget back on track, but he'll do better by spreading the needed sacrifice more fairly.
Morrison levels with us: We have a revenue problem after all
Now he tells us. Within days of his appointment as treasurer last year Scott Morrison rashly assured us he faced "a spending problem, not a revenue problem".
An attempt to shock us out of our complacency, for what?
One year into his job as treasurer, Scott Morrison has conceded that he does have a revenue problem after all, and delivered a stirring defence of... not that much.
G20 calls for tax policy overhaul
Group of 20 finance ministers say taxation policies should be improved worldwide to reflect globalisation and promote socially balanced, sustainable economic growth.
Why austerity measures don't work
What if the prime minister sacked the treasurer and promised to govern for everyone, not just those near the top?
Three simple tweaks to stop our leaders shortchanging us
What if budgets, and candidates for office, told the truth?
What's a AAA credit rating and does it matter?
What is this rating, where does it come from and does it matter? Your AAA-rating questions answered.
Rising number of Australian companies going bust
High rate of corporate collapses as economy shifts away from mining sector
Company tax cuts 'built on uncertain foundations'
Claims of a boost to living standards from the government's planned company tax cuts rest largely on a dramatic reduction in tax avoidance, a new analysis shows.