The author of this report argues that tax reform considerations need to be framed by a whole-of-tax-system perspective, and indeed at times a whole-of-tax-and-transfer-system perspective.

The nature of Australia’s federation means the Commonwealth controls the principal revenue-raising instruments, but large expenditure responsibilities are left to the states. This paper focuses on reviews that the states and territories have undertaken to improve the quality of their tax systems.

This working paper covers the limited tax reform developments in Australia over the last 20 years, in particular the 2009 Australia’s Future Tax System review and the 2015 tax white paper process with its Re:think discussion paper.

This paper starts with a discussion of the early 1990s battle of the plans between John Hewson’s Fightback! and Paul Keating’s One Nation but then focuses on the Howard–Costello government’s tax reform plan, in particular 1998’s A New Tax System (ANTS), with its centrepiece GST, and the related Ralph Review of Business Taxation.

After the tumult of the Whitlam Government, the Fraser Government (1975-1983) saw consolidation with less reform. The 1975 Asprey report remained largely unactioned, despite the fundamental problems that burdened the Australian tax system. The 1983 election of the Hawke Government, however, set in train a series of economic reforms, and tax would play a big...