Preliminaries

Date

© Commonwealth of Australia 2001

ISBN 0 642 74052 6

This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without prior written permission from the Commonwealth available from AusInfo. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to the Manager, Legislative Services, AusInfo, GPO Box 1920, Canberra ACT 2601.

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Printed by CanPrint Communications Pty Ltd.

 

     
 

Contents

 

Chapter 1 Introduction 1

      1.1 Background 1

      1.2 What is a tax expenditure? 1

      1.3 Purpose of this Statement 2

      1.4 Interpretation of tax expenditure estimates 3

      1.5 Structure of this Statement 4

Chapter 2 Overview of tax expenditure aggregates 5

      2.1 Introduction 5

      2.2 Tax expenditures by function 5

      2.3 Comparison with direct expenditure 8

      2.4 Tax expenditures by taxpayer affected 10

Chapter 3 Methodology 13

      3.1 Defining benchmarks 13

      3.2 General features of the taxation benchmark 14

      3.3 The personal income tax benchmark 15

      3.4 The retirement benefits benchmark 16

      3.5 The fringe benefits tax benchmark 16

      3.6 The business tax benchmark 17

      3.7 The excise duty benchmark 19

Chapter 4 Tax reform and other changes 21

      4.1 Introduction 21

      4.2 The effects of tax reform on tax expenditures 21

      4.3 Changes in tax expenditures since 1997-98 23

Chapter 5 Tax expenditure estimates 29

      5.1 Introduction 29

      5.2 Accrual estimates 29

Appendix A Description of tax expenditures 49

      A Personal income tax benchmark 49

      B Retirement benefits benchmark 62

      C Fringe benefits tax benchmark 63

      D Business tax benchmark 74

      E Excise duty benchmark 96

Appendix B Superannuation benefits 99

      B.1 Scope 99

      B.2 Interpretation 100

      B.3 Estimates 100

Index 103

List of tables

Table 2.1 Aggregate tax expenditures by function 7

Table 2.2 Aggregate tax expenditures and direct expenditure by function in 1999-2000 9

Table 2.3 Tax expenditures by taxpayer affected 11

Table 5.1 Tax expenditures reference table 32

Table B1 Estimated tax expenditures through superannuation tax concessions, 1996-97 to 2003-04 102

 

     
 

Acronyms

ABARE

Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics

ADF

Australian Defence Force or Approved Deposit Fund

CDEP

Community Development Employment Project

CFC

Controlled foreign companies

CGT

Capital gains tax

DTA

Double taxation agreement

DWT

Dividend withholding tax

ETM

Economic transaction method

ETP

Eligible termination payments

FBT

Fringe benefits tax

FIF

Foreign investment funds

FBTAA86

Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986

FTB

Family Tax Benefit

FTCS

Foreign tax credit system

GST

Goods and services tax

IED

Income equalisation deposit

ITAA36

Income Tax Assessment Act 1936

ITAA97

Income Tax Assessment Act 1997

ITLAA00

Indirect Tax Legislation Amendment Act 2000

IWT

Interest withholding tax

LPG

Liquefied petroleum gas

MYEFO

Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook

na

Not available

nec

not elsewhere classified

OECD

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

PBI

Public benevolent institution

PDF

Pooled development funds

RHQ

Regional headquarters

PNG

Papua New Guinea

R&D

Research and development

SHS

Schanz-Haig-Simons

TES

Tax Expenditures Statement

TLM

Tax liability meth
od

UPP

Undeducted purchase price

WET

Wine equalisation tax

Y2K

Year 2000 (compliance)