Aussie accountants call on Rudd for tax reform
Australian accountants were quick off the mark to call on the newly elected Rudd government to overhaul the tax system
PricewaterhouseCoopers
in Australia says the country is lagging the rest of the world when it comes to
tax reform and is urging Kevin Rudd, prime minister elect, to act now to do
something about its global competitiveness.
Despite having enjoyed a record period of prosperity, Australians last week
voted overwhelmingly in favour of change to Labor after more than 11 years of
conservative rule under prime minister John Howard.
‘We should be aiming to be in the top 10, like New Zealand,’ Tim Cox,
PricewaterhouseCoopers partner, told Melbourne paper The Age. ‘Our
inactivity has resulted in us being overtaken by other countries. There is now a
tremendous opportunity for the Australian government and business to benefit
from structural tax reform.’
PricewaterhouseCoopers and the World Bank’s newly released Paying Tax 2008
study, shows Australia has gone backwards, ranking 41 in ease of payment after
ranking 35 the previous year; and 122 out of 178 countries in terms of total tax
rate at 50.6% – the amount of all taxes and mandatory contributions borne by a
business as a percentage of profit.
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