It is the role of the Treasury to provide advice on effective tax and retirement income arrangements that contribute to the overall fiscal outcome, influence strong sustainable economic growth and lead to the improved wellbeing of Australians.
The Treasury is responsible for assessing and advising on the general design of the tax system and its components, and retirement income policy, in relation to economic efficiency, equity, income distribution, budgetary requirements and economic feasibility.
Business Tax Working Group
The Business Tax Working Group has been established by the Treasurer to look at how our tax system can best help businesses respond to the pressures of a changing economy. The Working Group will consider reforms that can increase productivity and deliver tax relief to struggling businesses in our patchwork economy. The Working Group will need to identify offsetting savings from within the business tax system to fund any recommended reforms.
The Working Group will first look at the tax treatment of losses, and how to fund any changes from within the business tax system. Then, the Working Group will focus on longer-term reform ideas for the business tax system, like changing the company tax rate or moving to a business expenditure tax (such as an allowance for corporate equity).
The Business Tax Working Group Final Report on the Tax Treatment of Losses was released on 13 April 2012.
For further information, visit the Business Tax Working Group page.
Minerals Resource Rent Tax
On 2 November 2011, the government introduced the minerals resource rent tax legislative package into parliament. The MRRT will apply to all new and existing iron ore and coal projects in Australia and will be applied at a rate of 30% on the taxable profit of a project, from 1 July 2012.
For information about the exposure drafts and the public consultation submissions made about the MRRT Bill, please visit the Australian Taxation Office website.
Rebuilding After the Floods
The floods in Australia have had an enormous impact on the community and the Australian economy in general. The Government is providing $6.6 billion to support recovery and rebuilding from these disasters, mostly for rebuilding public infrastructure such as roads, bridges, schools and local council utilities.
Australian taxpayers will be contributing to the rebuild through a one-off levy of 0.5 per cent in the 2011-12 financial year.
For further information on the flood levy, visit the Rebuilding After the Floods website.
Tax and Superannuation Protocol
This Protocol provides a framework for the working arrangements between the Treasury and the ATO to enable the best possible functioning of the tax and superannuation systems that Treasury and the ATO share the stewardship of.
For further information, please visit the Australian Taxation Office website.
Strategic Tax Policy Consultation
Treasury convenes bi-annual stakeholder consultation meetings to discuss strategic tax policy issues.
For further information see our Tax Consultation page.
Low Value Parcel Processing Taskforce
In December 2011 the Government announced the creation of a taskforce - the Low Value Parcel Processing Taskforce - to investigate options to improve the efficiency of processing low value imported parcels. The terms of reference are available from the Customs and Border Protection Services website.
The Assistant Treasurer, the Hon David Bradbury MP, released the final report on 3 September 2012.
For media enquiries please contact the Office of the Assistant Treasurer on (02) 6277 7360.
Tax Issues Entry System
The Tax Issues Entry System allows tax professional associations, individual tax professionals and the general public to register issues relating to the care and maintenance of the tax and superannuation systems.
Care and maintenance issues are about making sure the existing law operates in the way it was intended, by correcting technical or drafting defects, removing anomalies and addressing unintended outcomes. Care and maintenance issues could involve minor policy changes, though they typically would not have a significant revenue impact.
For further information, visit the Tax Issues Entry System website.
Tax Treaties and TIEAs
Australia has tax treaties with other countries to foster cooperation between Australia and other international tax authorities.
For information about tax treaties that Australia has, including which country, what is the status, what is the withholding tax rate limits and how are the implemented within Australia, visit our Tax treaties page.
Inspector-General of Taxation
The Inspector-General of Taxation is an independent statutory office established to review system tax administration issues and recommend to Government improvements to tax administration for the benefit of taxpayers. The overall aim is to identify how to reduce the administrative burden for taxpayers in meeting their tax obligations.
For further information on the work of Inspector-General of Taxation and current review in progress, visit the Inspector-General of Taxation website.
Board of Taxation
The Board of Taxation is a non-statutory advisory body charged with contributing a business and broader community perspective to improving the design of taxation laws and their operation.
The Board is tasked with advising the Treasurer on improving the general integrity and functioning of the taxation system and commissioning research and other studies on tax matters.
For further information, visit the Board of Taxation website.