Tax reform: Priorities and prospects

Australia's Future Tax System (AFTS) Review (the Henry Review) has provided a strategic direction for the future development of the tax and social transfer systems. This article considers the priorities and prospects for further tax reform in the coming few years. The author discusses previous tax reform processes in Australia, tax analysis, key drivers and their reform implications, and recent and current trends in tax reform overseas. The article then examines Australia's existing tax circumstances and strategies, constraints, especially political, on medium-term reform, and medium-term priorities and prospects for tax reform. Several reform possibilities are then examined, including tax on mainstream savings, retirement savings and income, land and land transfers, alcohol taxation, road pricing and funding, financial services, and achieving a more neutral business tax base. The article then discusses the major structural tax reform proposals of the AFTS Review, and concludes with observations on the tax reform process.