October Tax Summit

[ozbob]

From the Couriermail click here!

Motorist could be hit with congestion charge as Federal Government weighs up options for October tax summit

Motorist could be hit with congestion charge as Federal Government weighs up options for October tax summit

    Steven Scott
    From: The Courier-Mail
    July 29, 2011 12:00AM

MOTORISTS could be hit with congestion charges if they drive at busy times of the day as part of the Federal Government's October tax summit.

Queensland could be pressured to cut stamp duty and abolish insurance taxes under options in a discussion paper for the summit.

Property investors could lose some concessions and there could be a new crackdown on business tax rorts, if the governments follow proposals raised in the paper.

And industries struggling with the high Australian dollar, such as tourism and manufacturing, could get new tax breaks.

Treasurer Wayne Swan has ruled out controversial options including a road charge and changes to the GST rate ahead of the summit, which will be held on October 4 and 5. However, the discussion paper designed to guide the forum explicitly raises a wide range of options to overhaul the nation's tax system.

Mr Swan said the forum would look at ways to make the tax system more efficient.

But the Government, which is struggling to explain its carbon tax and faces another battle over its mining tax plans, has not committed to any further reform.

"I want to see a robust debate in the community about priorities and directions in tax reform,'' Mr Swan said.

"The paper that we are releasing today is not a Government policy statement.''

The forum, which the Government agreed to hold under pressure from Independent MPs, will reconsider many of the proposals that were shelved after the tax review headed by former Treasury secretary Ken Henry.

A major theme of the summit will be ways to remove disincentives for job seekers to find work.

Older people could get extra tax perks if they work longer and further benefits while they draw down on their superannuation.

Job seekers could also receive incentives to move to find work and welfare recipients could be prodded into the workforce with a combination of tax carrots and sticks.

State and territory leaders, business groups, unions, welfare representatives and tax experts are included in the invitation list for the summit.

Independent MPs and senators, two Greens representatives and new DLP senator John Madigan are also invited.

The Opposition have been excluded from the talk fest, but Mr Swan said they would be welcomed if they approached the forum constructively.

But Opposition treasury spokesman Joe Hockey said the forum was a sham.

"The Labor Government can't be taken seriously about tax reform,'' he said.

"Since 2007, Labor has introduced 19 new or increased taxes.''

[SurfRail]

Actually implementing the Henry Review recommendations would be a start.

What a putz.

[Stillwater]

Governments are often criticised by people in rural and regional Queensland about the amount of money spent on infrastructure and services in SE Qld.  They point to the tunnels, the buses, busways, the rail network, the freeways and big sporting venues and argue they are not getting a 'fair share', putting aside the notion of what's fair for the time being.

Those outside SE Qld argue that their taxes are going towards subsidies for Brisbane PT users, while the bus services in their towns, rudimentary as they are, are provided by private bus companies where a full fare applies.

Governments are sensitive to these cries, particularly since Queensland is the most decentralised mainland state.

This is where a congestion tax comes into play.  Governments could point to a congestion tax as showing the 'out of towners' that people in Greater Brisbane are paying their own way when it comes to provision of infrastructure.

That said, any Queensland Government would have to be dragged kicking and screaming to introduce a congestion tax.  Or bribed, with the federal government promising to match, dollar for dollar, any money raised by such a tax.  Such would be the reluctance and perplexion among states, they would be secretly demanding that the feds impose a congestion tax on them as part of any new infrastructure agreement, and do so simultaneously across the nation.  No one city or state would want to go first with a congestion tax.

Brisbane is heading to be Australia's most congested city.  The state government, which ever party is in power, would sense a political backlash from voters (particularly 'outer city' voters, where Labor support is strong) and would want to avoid a congestion tax, no matter how strong the rationale for such a move.

[SurfRail]

A congestion tax is really not that difficulty to sell.  A properly designed tax should not actually need to result in substantially more revenue for the government, just the ability to apportion costs where they should be.  Somebody living in a rural area does not need to be paying the same rate as somebody who drives to their office in Eagle Street every day.

It needs to be marketed properly and packaged with a more comprehensive review of state revenue.  Both require skills apparently lacking in all MPs and their staff at present.

[Stillwater]

Most MPs have caveman logic.  Congestion tax = 'another great big tax'.  Now, where's today's clean pair of budgie smugglers.

[Golliwog]

Most MPs have caveman logic.  Congestion tax = 'another great big tax'.  Now, where's today's clean pair of budgie smugglers.

I thought in QLD it was the striped red shirt?

[O_128]

Ive always assumed a congestion tax would be done in 2 stages first the CBD itself with simple E tag gates at all entrances and a stage 2 encompassing west end, the gabba, the valley and bowen hills.

[somebody]

A congestion tax is really not that difficulty to sell.  A properly designed tax should not actually need to result in substantially more revenue for the government, just the ability to apportion costs where they should be.  Somebody living in a rural area does not need to be paying the same rate as somebody who drives to their office in Eagle Street every day.

It needs to be marketed properly and packaged with a more comprehensive review of state revenue.  Both require skills apparently lacking in all MPs and their staff at present.

Wouldn't the Sydney style parking levy be easier to administer than a congestion charge?  Although that does have the limitation that people are still encouraged to drive through the CBD rather than use the Clem7 (or Go Between).