Andrew Leigh

HINT FOR SCOTT MORRISON: REAL TAX PLANS COME WITH REVENUE

It is little wonder Scott Morrison can’t balance the Budget when he keeps announcing tax ‘crackdowns’ that raise no revenue.

The Treasurer’s announcement that the Foreign Investment Review Board will now consider tax issues as part of its national interest assessment process is another attempt to look tough on multinational tax.

But just like his much trumpeted multinational tax bill – which had asterisk where there should have been revenue figures – the Treasurer will not say whether this move will return a single extra dollar to the Australian community.

The lack of revenue attached to this announcement can only mean one of two things. Either Scott Morrison knows it won’t really stop companies shifting profits offshore, or he simply hasn’t done his homework before rushing out with this plan to distract from his embarrassing performance on economic issues last week.

By contrast, Labor has had a fully costed $7.2 billion multinational tax plan on the table since March last year. The Government is tinkering at the edges with these new foreign investment rules instead of tackling the real problem: debt deduction loopholes which make it easy and legal for companies to shift billions offshore.

That’s the problem Labor’s plan fixes. Closing these loopholes would return billions of dollars to the budget bottom line over the coming decade.

Just like Labor’s plans on negative gearing and superannuation concessions, our multinational tax package is designed to restore fairness to the Australian tax system and get the budget back onto a sustainable footing in the years ahead.

The best this Government has to offer on economic policy is thought bubbles which burst faster than Scott Morrison’s credibility.    

MONDAY, 22 FEBRUARY 2016

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