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    Policy

    Tax & Super

    This Month

    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 senator Nick McKim is pushing for extra tax on high super balances to kick in at $2 million.

    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
    Former WA Premier Colin Barnett and economist Saul Eslake at the national press club in Canberra on Wednesday.

    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

    AustralianSuper and HESTA are the outliers this time in calling for widespread change.

    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
    The value of super withdrawn for dental treatments nationally jumped 373 per cent to $313 million from 2019 to 2023.

    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    The value of super withdrawn for dental treatments nationally jumped 373 per cent to $313 million from 2019 to 2023, and Labor has warned of a potential crackdown.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
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    Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor says Labor has failed to take on industry concerns about double taxation risks.

    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
    Superannuation savers could be paying twice for some earnings under Labor’s proposed reforms, experts say.

    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
    Fund manager Geoff Wilson says small local businesses will lose out from taxes on unrealised gains in super.

    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
    Outgoing OECD tax executive David Bradbury is returning to Australia.

    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
    Wealthy Australians may put more money into super to avoid the full sting of the stage three tax cut.

    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
    Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers (right) and his predecessor Josh Frydenberg.

    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
    Prime minister Bob Hawke and treasurer Paul Keating at the 1985 Tax Summit. Australia is long overdue for another serious national talk on tax.

    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
    Ken Henry, right, says politicians like Jim Chalmers must avoid a “tragedy” on tax reform.

    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
    Ken Henry says business investment in Australia has been at “terribly, terribly low” recessionary levels for years.

    ‘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

    Matt Comyn at the Summit on Tuesday.

    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
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    Inflation is expected to moderate.

    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
    Jack Wu’s three-bedroom apartment in Milsons Point, Sydney.

    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
    Preparations are well under way at Rest under CEO Vicki Doyle.

    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
    Karen Chester has warned against changing the super performance test.

    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
    Treasurer Jim Chalmers is consulting on the superannuation performance test.

    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