A key role for the Parliamentary Budget Office (PBO) is to prepare budget quality costings of policies proposed by members of Parliament. This paper explains the PBO’s approach and sets out how and when broader economy wide effects, also referred to as second round effects, are captured in policy costings.

This PBO information paper provides a conceptual explanation of what a costing is, what a costing is designed to capture and how a costing estimate is generated. It has been prepared to improve understanding of what a costing represents and assist in the interpretation of the material that is presented in PBO costing minutes.

This consultation paper provides information on the costing process, the factors that affect the time it takes for the PBO to respond to costing requests and the framework that the PBO applies to prioritise competing demands for costing resources.

This report examines the revenue, expenditure, net capital investment and the net debt position across all levels of Australian government over the forward estimates period. It provides an update to the national fiscal outlook, based on Commonwealth and state government budget updates.

In the 2017–18 Budget, the projected return to surplus in 2020–21 is predominantly due to a projected increase in personal income tax revenue. This report analyses the expected increase in average tax rates for individuals in different parts of the taxable income distribution and examines the factors that are driving these outcomes.