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The government has been urged to conduct a review of several tax features in a major accounting body’s pre-budget submission.
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Major accounting body pushes government on key tax measures
24 January 2017
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Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has urged the government to review some serious elements of the taxation system, including the PAYG system, ahead of the 9 May budget.
“Our out-of-date PAYG instalment system should be revisited with a view to getting more businesses paying their tax on time and in full, provided the government also embraces a national code of conduct for prompt payment of small business invoices and an improved education strategy around managing cash flow,” CA ANZ head of leadership and advocacy Rob Ward said.
In its submission, CA ANZ demanded Treasurer Scott Morrison “reconsider his position on the 50 per cent CGT discount”, and simplify FBT and work-related deductions.
Additionally, Mr Ward said the areas of community confidence and engagement need to be addressed.
“Last year’s budget damaged superannuation in the eyes of many. This budget should focus on building confidence and engagement with superannuation, with renewed efforts to make the system simpler, more efficient and cost effective,” he said.
“We support the provision of government services online, but let’s bring people along with us by providing access to a friendly, helpful voice to those who find technology difficult.”
The accounting body also asked the government to take a long-term view of the Australian economic situation when it came to facing foreseeable threats.
“The community deserves a frank picture of the difficulties our country will face over the next 10 years and rightly expects major political parties to use the budget sitting to present policies on how these challenges will be addressed,” Mr Ward said.
“What we don’t need is negative politics which misleads Australians into thinking there’s always ‘someone else’ who can pay extra taxes, ‘someone else’ who can do without a government service.”
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