Andrew Leigh

Putting the spotlight on company tax dodgers, Business Spectator, 18 December

Every year, the International Tax Review nominates its ‘Global Tax 50’ – the people and organisations who are most influential in improving tax systems around the world. Two years ago, David Bradbury made the list, for being ‘a vocal and pro-active voice on a variety of tax issues’.

One of Bradbury’s award-winning reforms was tax transparency – laws that required the tax office to report the tax paid by firms with total income above $100 million. The Liberals didn’t like the change, and voted against it at the time. After winning government, they set about trying to repeal it – first by warning of kidnap risk, and then by suggesting that it might embarrass some firms if the public knew how little tax they paid. 

Farcically, the government said that it wouldn’t pass its own multinational tax package unless the parliament agreed to wind back secrecy. In effect, Scott Morrison was holding a gun to his own head, but the Greens Party fell for it. On the last day of parliament for 2015, the Greens Party agreed to amendments that kept two in three private companies out of the tax transparency net. 

This week’s release of tax transparency data has shown the value of letting the sunlight in. The 1300 economic groups covered by the report had a combined taxable income of $170 billion, and contributed $40 billion in tax towards funding Australia’s schools, hospitals and roads.

 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

 

DOORSTOP

 

PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA

 

THURSDAY, 17 DECEMBER 2015

 

SUBJECT/S: Tax paid by $100 million companies; Government in hiding on tax secrecy 

 

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: On Tuesday this week we saw the Government bring down a mini-budget which contained cuts so harsh that even Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey wouldn't countenance them. We saw cuts to aged care; to childcare; to family daycare; we saw cuts to the Federal Police's international deployments; and we saw cuts to Medicare bulk billing.

In bringing down those cuts, Scott Morrison said, "Well, if you don't like these, show us your alternative." Today's release of tax data on Australia's largest firms points to exactly where that alternative might be. 

The tax data that has been released today is data the Liberal Party didn't want you to see. The Liberal Party voted against the tax transparency laws when Labor announced them in 2013. Then, when they got into office they tried every excuse to wind them back, including suggesting this would lead to kidnap risk - an explanation described by one tax expert as the stupidest excuse for non-disclosure he'd ever heard. 

ATO REPORT HIGHLIGHTS NEED FOR BETTER TAX TRANSPARENCY

For the first time ever today, Australians have the opportunity to see how much tax some of Australia’s largest publically listed companies pay thanks to laws introduced by Labor in 2013.

 

The Australian Tax Office’s reportpublished this morning detailed the tax contribution of over 1500 major multinational and Australian public companies.

 

The Liberals voted against Labor’s laws back in 2013. If they had their way, none of today’s information would have been published.

 

Worse still, the Liberal deal with the Greens last month to reduce tax transparency means that large private companies will not be subject to the same scrutiny we’ve seen today

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

ABC NEWSRADIO

WEDNESDAY, 16 DECEMBER 2015

SUBJECT/S: Government fails on debt and deficit with MYEFO. 

MARIUS BENSON: Andrew Leigh, the Treasurer was not claiming they were great figures he was dealing with yesterday but do you claim that Labor would be delivering better figures on debt and surplus?

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Marius, you could hardly do worse than this. Debt and deficits were set as the main task of economic management by the Coalition from opposition. Most economists wouldn't say that was the hallmark of great economic management, but they did. On that mark they are failing spectacularly. This year's budget deficit has blown out by $33 billion. Total debt, when the Government came to office, was projected to peak at 13 per cent of national income and now it is projected to peak at nearly 19 per cent. So the debt and deficit blowout has been spectacular. I was struck by the fact that Joe Hockey kept on blaming Wayne Swan, and now Scott Morrison seems to be adopting a budget strategy of putting everything on to Joe Hockey. Australians just want a government that stops the blame game and starts acting to make sensible decisions in the long-term national interest.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

RADIO INTERVIEW

RADIO NATIONAL BREAKFAST

WEDNESDAY, 16 DECEMBER 201

SUBJECT/S: Government fails its own economic test with MYEFO. 

ALISON CARABINE: Andrew Leigh, good morning.

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: Good morning Alison, how are you?

CARABINE: Very well, thank you. Scott Morrison is trying to be positive; you are an economist so with the deficit increasing to $37 billion and the return to surplus pushed out by yet another year, how much trouble are we actually in here?

LEIGH: Alison, economists wouldn't argue that debt and deficit is the number one test of economic management. Most economists would talk about things like growth or inequality or jobs. But the Coalition did say that this was their signal test of economic management from opposition. They said they'd have the budget in surplus in their first year and every year after that. On that call, they've spectacularly failed. We can see that peak debt was forecast, when the Government came to office, to peak at 13 per cent of national income but now it is forecast to peak at nearly 19 per cent of national income. When the Government came to office, the budget was forecast to be back in surplus in the next fiscal year; now it is deficits as far as the eye can see. 

 The Luck of Politics 

Cunningham Lecture 

Academy of Social Science in Australia

The annual Cunningham Lecture is hosted by the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. To view the lecture, click on the image below. 

Teenfinca is an educational magazine use as a teaching resource in schools for students. It brings together a range of important skills in an easy to read and understand format. 

 Costs and Benefits 

Teenfinca Magazine

An economist friend of mine once confessed ‘you know, some days I’m not sure I have any other way of making decisions than by cost-benefit analysis’.

You might think he was getting a little carried away. But then again, I’ll bet that you use cost-benefit analysis more than you think. When considering whether to buy apples or bananas at the supermarket, you weigh up the prices with your enjoyment of each fruit. When storms in Queensland caused the prices of bananas to spike a few years ago, fewer consumers bought them.

Cost-benefit analysis doesn’t just apply to market decisions. Economists studying crime have found that measures which raise the ‘cost’ of offending – such as more police on the streets – tend to lower the amount of crime. Some crimes are irrational, but it’s a mistake to assume that criminals aren’t savvy enough to weigh up costs and benefits too.

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

DOORSTOP

MELBOURNE

MONDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2015

SUBJECT/S: Labor’s positive plans for the sharing economy; government set to fail its own economic test with MYEFO 

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TREASURER: It's a real pleasure to be here today with Labor's candidate for the seat of Melbourne, Sophie Ismail. We've been here at Uber talking about Labor's ideas for the sharing economy.

Labor's plan for the sharing economy recognises the value that building innovative companies has for Australia. Bill Shorten and I announced this plan at an incubator centre in Canberra back in October, and it focuses principles such as the idea that primary property is yours to share; that the sharing economy should support good wages and conditions; that all firms should pay their fair share of tax and that we make sure that the sharing economy assists vulnerable groups such as people with disabilities.

Unfortunately, the sharing economy has been entirely left out from the Government's Innovation Statement which means it also misses the potential that comes from the growth of local sharing economy businesses in Australia - companies such as Camplify, Parkhound and many others.

I might just make a couple of comments on MYEFO before I throw to Sophie. The Government's economic update tomorrow will likely fail both its own test for the economy and Labor's test for the economy. When they came to office, the Abbott-Turnbull Government said that they would pay down debt faster and make sure that Australia was running a surplus in the first year and every year after that. Well we've seen deficits blowing out; doubled over the course of the last year alone. And the mini-budget is also likely to fail Labor's test and that of the Australian community. With sluggish growth, falling living standards, and high inequality, Australia now has a Prime Minister and a Treasurer that are looking to slash the best-targeted social safety net in the world. We know that this will not only hurt the most vulnerable but will also potentially impede growth because those in the middle and bottom of the distribution spend all of their pay packets. So the cuts to family support that remain on the table are a signal threat to growth in the years to come. I'll hand over now to Sophie. 

E&OE TRANSCRIPT

TV INTERVIEW

SKY AM AGENDA

MONDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2015

SUBJECT/S: Paris climate conference; savage cuts ahead in MYEFO; John Bannon.

DAVID LIPSON: Joining me now, Shadow Assistant Treasurer Andrew Leigh. Thank you very much for your time. 

ANDREW LEIGH, SHADOW ASSISTANT TRASURER: Pleasure, David.

LIPSON: Was the deal in Paris a good one?

LEIGH: I think it is. I think it sets that target of 1.5 degrees which we know is absolutely vital to keeping the Great Barrier Reef.

LIPSON: Well 2 degrees, but an ambition, I suppose, of one and a half.

LEIGH: Yes that's right. Certainly though it leaves Australia out from the pack with the rest. We know Australia's targets are now well in excess of what other countries have. We're failing to demonstrate the level of ambition that Britain, the United States, and now Canada - with their change of government - are showing. We're going to have the highest emissions per head amongst developed countries, and that really is going to challenge Australia's ability to make the change in a way that is economically responsible. We know that if we put off the task of dealing with dangerous climate change, it will hurt the economy more and it will hurt the environment more. 

MALCOLM TURNBULL’S IDEA OF HELPING STARTUPS: GIVE TAX BREAKS TO WORLD’S BIGGEST FIRMS

Malcolm Turnbull has buried a huge tax loophole for big businesses in the fine print of his Innovation Statement.

The Prime Minister talks a lot about supporting Australian startups and new businesses, but this decision could instead end up funneling millions in tax breaks to some of the world’s biggest firms. 

The Government has proposed changes to the tax deduction and depreciation arrangements for intangible assets like patents and intellectual property.

Currently, these assets must be claimed as tax deductions according to a timetable set by the Australian Tax Office– meaning their value can only be claimed back over either 8 or 20 years.