Tax reform

Tax reform is the process of changing the way taxes are collected or managed by the government and is usually undertaken to improve tax administration or to provide economic or social benefits. Tax reform can include reducing the level of taxation of all people by the government, making the tax system more progressive or less progressive, or simplifying the tax system and making the system more understandable or more accountable.

Numerous organizations have been set up to reform tax systems worldwide, often with the intent to reform income taxes or value added taxes into something considered more economically liberal. Other reforms propose tax systems that attempt to deal with externalities. Such reforms are sometimes proposed to be revenue-neutral, for example in revenue neutrality of the FairTax, meaning they ought not result in more tax or less being collected.Georgism claims that various forms of land tax can both deal with externalities and improve productivity.

Tax reform is an increasingly significant issue on the Australian political agenda. Combined annual deficits of the Commonwealth and State and territory governments will rise from 1.9% of gross domestic product in 2011–12 to 5.9% of GDP by 2049–50. Widespread, wholesale tax reform in Australia has not occurred since the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax in 2000. The Henry Tax Review identified 138 areas for significant reform to Australia's tax system over the next 10 to 20 years.

In July 2013, PricewaterhouseCoopers proposed significant tax reform in the context of an ageing population and slowing of the Australian mining boom. PricewaterhouseCoopers proposed improving the efficiency of the Australian tax system through analysing the competitiveness of the levels of taxation, its effect on production and the importance of broad-based taxes to reduce economic distortion. For example, over 115 other taxes raise less revenue than one tax: the Goods and Services Tax. This Report received widespread coverage in the Australian press.

...
Wikipedia