Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared his stance on push to increase the GST

News.com.au

4 hours ago

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared he won't play the 'rule in, rule out' game on future tax changes, including lifting the GST, despite making clear his personal opposition to the idea.
Speaking at the National Press Club, the Treasurer outlined his ambition to develop a 'bold' reform agenda.
However, he has warned that wherever the debate lands, he won't be discarding the tax reform plans for which he secured a mandate at the last election.
That includes his superannuation tax changes targeting wealthy Australians with more than $3 million in retirement savings.
'We're not looking for opportunities to go back on the things that we have got a mandate for,' the Treasurer said.
'We're looking for new ideas.'
Despite declaring that the 'rule in, rule out game' was corrosive to public debate about big ideas because it sparked media firestorms, Mr Chalmers was then asked about the inevitable push from the states about lifting the GST.
While the International Monetary Fund has previously suggested Australia should expand consumption taxes such as the GST to help repair a blowout in the deficit, that's not an idea the Treasurer has backed.
The GST has been stuck at 10 per cent for 23 years.
During his speech at the press club, Mr Chalmers was asked if he had an open mind about revisiting the GST ahead of talks from senior economists and business leaders to inform the Albanese Government's future agenda.
'Historically, I've had a view about the GST,' the Treasurer replied.
'I think it's hard to adequately compensate people and I think often an increase in the GST is spent three or four times over with the — by the time people are finished with all the things they want to try and do with it.
'What I'm going to try and do, because I know the states will have a view on it, I'm going to trial not to dismiss every idea that I know that people will bring to the roundtable.
'I suspect the states will have a view about the GST. It's not a view I've been attracted to historically, but I'm going to try not to get in the process of shooting ideas between now and the round table.
'My view has not changed on all of the other times that I've been asked about it. But I think one of the ways I'm going to be inclusive and respectful. I suspect people will raise that question.'
'So you're not ruling it out?,' he was asked, prompting laughter.
'I haven't changed my view on it. And, again, it's a nice little cheeky attempt to get a rule-in-rule-out in,' he said.
It sounded to me like you were ruling it out,' Nine's Andrew Probyn said.
'I'm not walking away from those views,' the Treasurer said.
'We genuinely want to hear people's ideas.'
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has previously opposed raising the GST or cutting company tax rates, expressing a preference to undertake 'modest but meaningful' tax changes in 'bite-sized chunks'.
Two years ago, Mr Chalmers warned that raising the GST would not fix the problem since the tax was collected by the federal government and distributed back to the states.
'From my point of view, there are distributional issues with the GST in particular. Every cent goes to the state and territory governments, so it wouldn't be an opportunity necessarily, at least not directly, to repair the Commonwealth budget,' he said.