The Minister for Financial Services and Regulation, Joe Hockey, today warned the financial community that cuts to business tax would be unlikely if the Senate was unwilling to pass the Governments tax reform package.
"If the Government cannot get through the Senate income tax cuts for lower and middle-income Australians, then the business community is whistling Dixie about cuts to capital gains tax and cuts in corporate tax rates," the Minister said.
Answering a question following a speech in Sydney, the Minister said: "We have a very significant taxation package before the Senate the most fundamental reform since Federation that aims at improving our international competitiveness.
"If we cannot get the GST package through the Senate, and that includes abolition of $3 billion a year on financial institutions duty, debits tax and stamp duty on the transfer of marketable securities, then these inefficient taxes will stay in place and continue to be an impediment to international investment.
"The Senate is toying with our world competitiveness.
"Speculation about changes to capital gains tax is meaningless until we get the current tax package through."