Media Release

Tax reform needs ongoing community engagement

A robust tax reform agenda is predicated on the involvement of community stakeholder groups, with the government needing to connect with the public in order to achieve optimum tax policy, according to the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia (the Institute).

The Institute’s tax counsel, Yasser El-Ansary, says the federal government, business groups and the community are jointly responsible for continuing the conversation beyond the government’s two day tax forum in Canberra next week. He says community groups must have a place in ongoing dialogue with policy-makers in the coming years if major structural reforms are to be realised.

“The community needs to be on board with tax reform – they can’t simply have it forced on them. The reality is any change to the tax base could potentially impact all areas of society, so it’s critical the community has confidence and trust in the process,” he says.

The Institute’s position on the future design and implementation of a more streamlined tax system has been highlighted in a new policy paper, Tax reform: Laying the foundations, which has been produced in conjunction with KPMG.

Tax reform: Laying the foundations  outlines key tax reform measures needed in building on work completed in Dr Ken Henry’s Australia’s Future Tax System review, and identifies the focal points for further economic analysis and community debate.

Mr El-Ansary will be discussing the future of necessary reform measures at next week’s tax forum.

Article last Updated 29 September 2011