This Month
- Exclusive
- Tax avoidance
Lendlease hit with $112m tax bill over retirement business
The property group has been hit with an initial $112 million bill from the Tax Office, in a dispute that could ultimately cost it more than $300 million.
- John Kehoe
Greens demand $2m threshold for super wealth tax
The Greens have a new list of demands in exchange for their support on Labor’s new tax on high balance super accounts.
- Updated
- Michelle Bowes
The instigator of WA’s GST deal says it is failing
Colin Barnett says there was no need for the prime minister to lift WA’s minimum GST “floor” from 70¢ to 75¢ in the dollar, as is set to occur from July.
- John Kehoe
April
Big super splits on performance test reforms
Labor announced it was reviewing the test after several funds said the current rules stopped them investing in the “nation building” initiatives the government wanted them to bankroll.
- Hannah Wootton
Start-ups, dentists drain retirement savings in ‘super scam’
The value of super withdrawn for dental treatments nationally jumped 373 per cent to $313 million from 2019 to 2023, and Labor has warned of a potential crackdown.
- Hannah Wootton
Labor will tax super savers twice under proposed ‘wealth tax’: Taylor
Double taxation was “a natural consequence” of Labor’s plan to tax unrealised gains under its proposed tax increase on super balances over $3 million, the shadow treasurer said.
- Hannah Wootton
Savers with $3m-plus super could pay double tax on earnings
Labor’s plan to increase the tax paid on earnings for super accounts with more than $3 million could sting savers twice, experts have suggested.
- Updated
- Hannah Wootton
Super tax changes to ‘cut off lifeblood’ of local business
Funds management veteran Geoff Wilson says Labor’s controversial plan to tax unrealised gains on big superannuation accounts will discourage investment in local firms.
- Hannah Wootton
- Exclusive
- Tax reform
Former Labor minister calls for major tax shake-up
The nation “relies too much on personal income tax and corporate income tax” and “there are limits to the sustainability of that”, the OECD’s tax official and former Labor minister David Bradbury says.
- John Kehoe and Tom McIlroy
Tax changes may make super the best place to stash cash
New analysis shows the changes will have the perverse effect of entrenching tax benefits for some of the country’s wealthiest, spurring calls for widespread tax reform.
- Hannah Wootton
- Opinion
- Tax reform
We need a tough treasurer to talk us through tax reform
What really matters for future living standards is government policy going above and beyond mediocre minor changes.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Tax reform
Tax reform fail threatening the social compact of a nation
A new tax review will have to look at what this generation can do for the Australians of the future.
- Ken Henry
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Tax review to avoid an ‘intergenerational tragedy’
Incremental change is a waste of time. Ken Henry says someone has to grab this thing and get on with it.
- The AFR View
‘Young people have been screwed’ on tax: former Treasury boss
Ken Henry has warned the social compact with workers shouldering a rising tax burden faces an “existential crisis”, unless reformers can persuade the public for major changes.
- Updated
- John Kehoe
March
- Analysis
- Tax reform
Why Comyn went ‘off script’ and called for a major tax shake-up
The Commonwealth Bank chief executive spoke out for income tax cuts and a higher GST in what he described as “heart in your mouth sort of stuff” for his advisers.
- John Kehoe
Tax cuts fail to beat inflation for high earners
Failure to recoup seven years of tax bracket creep under the stage three income tax cuts will leave high earners $6400 behind, new analysis shows.
- John Kehoe
- Exclusive
- ATO
The day a 34-year-old Sydneysider got a $116m tax bill
The Tax Office’s pursuit of a wealthy Taiwanese-Sydney family illustrates how investigations that take years can suddenly accelerate.
- Aaron Patrick
ASIC, APRA warn super funds on executive scrutiny
Regulators and lawyers have warned super funds they need to get their houses in order before tough new executive accountability laws come into force next year.
- Updated
- Hannah Wootton
Super funds accused of using ‘myths’ in ‘relentless lobby’ for less scrutiny
Funds are also using the current performance test as a “a convenient scapegoat” to justify subpar returns instead of explaining their poor results, Karen Chester says.
- Hannah Wootton
- Opinion
- Super wars
Time for super performance test facts and myth busting
The latest Treasury review should find what we already know: that the current test has delivered for members.
- Karen Chester and Brad Ruting
