Waiting on the world to change…

Well here we are on 1 April and the Henry Tax Review, well, isn’t! I appreciate that tax isn’t the world to most people, but for those of us who have been knee-deep in this review since it was commissioned in May 2008, the world is effectively about to change.

If you have been watching the news closely, you’ll know that the release of the report is imminent: all we can do is wait.

So, earlier this week I thought while I am waiting for the release of the most anticipated tax review in recent memory, why don’t I take a trip to Canberra and have a chat to some members there about the Review and what it means to them?

I always enjoy getting out and hearing what our members have to say. And on this occasion, I was fortunate enough to be able to share the task of answering questions with a panel of fellow experts. Andrew McCrossin (Ernst & Young), Mile Petrevski (Maxim) and Mike Bannon (Duesburys Nexia) did a top job fielding queries from the floor and helping to shed some light on issues they have experienced at the coal face.

While there were lots of questions about potential implications of changes to areas such as personal tax returns, FBT, and loss-carry back rules, I was pleasantly surprised to find myself engaged in discussions on the big picture issues such as Australia’s tax mix, our tax revenue as a percentage of GDP and where I thought we ought to sit to maximise international competitiveness. All in all, it was a great discussion to precede the great debate about to come.

We’ve come a long way since the start of this Review and it will be interesting to see how the government copes with the budget deficit ‘shackle.’ There is no doubt that the government will be focused on long-term reform over at least the next 10 years and the public will do well to realise that reform doesn’t necessarily mean lower taxes. It’s about simplifying the system to enable Australia to deal with the economic challenges that lie ahead.

Regardless of the outcomes of the Review, however, one thing is for certain: this is only the beginning.