All the States and Territories will abolish Bank Account Debits tax by 1 July 2005 as a result of an agreement between the Australian Government and the State Governments today. The abolition of this narrow, inefficient tax will save taxpayers around $1 billion a year. The abolition of this tax will be funded by the growing GST revenue to the States.
Agreement has also been reached to review a range of State and Territory business stamp duties. The review will report to the Ministerial Council in 2005.
A further outcome of the meeting is that GST revenue in 2004-05 will be distributed in accordance with the recommendations of the Commonwealth Grants Commission (CGC). This is supported by all States and Territory Governments other than NSW and Victoria. A majority of the States and Territories, with the support of the Australian Government, have agreed to a work program on simplification of the CGC’s methodology.
Payments to the States and Territories
The Ministerial Council noted the Statement of Estimated Payments to the States and Territories (which is reproduced at Attachment A). The Statement indicates that the Australian Government will provide State and Territory governments with total funding of more than $50.3billion in 2003-04 and more than $52.8billion in 2004-05. It also shows that total funding for each State and Territory government will increase from 2003-04 to 2004-05.
Adding payments made directly to local government and those which pass “through” the States to other bodies, the total funding provided by the Australian Government will be more than $56.7billion in 2003-04, increasing to more than $59.4billion in 2004-05.
GST Revenue Received by the States and their Gains from Tax Reform
The Ministerial Council noted that the States and Territories will receive an estimated total of $32.5 billion in GST revenue in 2003-04 and $34.1billion in 2004-05. These estimates are based on the MYEFO estimates of GST revenue.
On the basis of these estimates, only New South Wales and Victoria require Budget Balancing Assistance (BBA) in 2003-04. The other six States and Territories are estimated to be better-off, by in excess of $590 million, as each of their GST entitlement is expected to exceed their Guaranteed Minimum Amount(GMA). The estimates also indicate that Victoria will no longer require BBA from 2004-05.
In 2004-05 on current estimates, the States will share a GST windfall of $953 million with only New South Wales requiring Budget Balancing Assistance.
As part of the Intergovernmental Agreement, all States and Territories agreed that all of the GST revenue would be distributed among them on a Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation (HFE) basis, based on recommendations of the CGC, which is the independent and expert arbiter on matters relating to HFE.
The CGC’s recommended relativities were discussed by the Ministerial Council and all States and Territories put forward their views.
The CGC’s methodology is developed by the CGC in consultation with all the States and Territories and is based on the long-standing principle that all State and Territory governments should have the same capacity to provide quality services to their citizens.
The States’ complaints about funding are a dispute between the States and Territories over the distribution of their own revenue source – the GST. Every dollar of GST revenue goes to the States and Territories. If all States and Territories come united to the Australian Government and want the formula changed, I will consider their proposal. However as this has not occurred today, I will be accepting the decision of the independent umpire.
A majority of the States and Territories, with the support of the Australian Government, agreed to a work program on the CGC’s methodology, which is used to distribute the GST revenue between the States and Territories.
This work will be undertaken by Heads of Treasuries, and will draw upon the expertise of the CGC.
The review will consider:
- whether the present approach,which is based on a comprehensive assessment of virtually all receipts and expenses in the operating statements of States, is appropriate and necessary;
- the size and trend of the redistributions;
- simplification; and
- data issues.
This work program will not, however, be examining the underlying principles of HFE.
Specific Purpose Payments (SPPs)
On the basis of preliminary estimates, total SPPs will increase by around 4.9 per cent or $1,153.5 million in 2004-05. After abstracting from SPPs which will be paid direct to local government, or which pass “through” the States and Territories to other bodies, SPPs “to” the States and Territories are estimated to increase by around 5.1 per cent, or $861.5 million. Detailed estimates of the proposed level of SPPs and their distribution among the States and Territories will be included in the Australian Government’s 2004-05 Budget.
National Competition Policy Payments
The Australian Government will also provide National Competition Policy Payments of up to approximately $775 million to the States and Territories in 2004-05, as specified in the Agreement to Implement the National Competition Policy and Related Reforms.
Each State and Territories’ receipt of its per capita share of Competition Payments will be determined once the Australian Government has considered recommendations from the National Competition Council’s assessment of progress under the Competition Agreements.
GST Administration Issues
As the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) collects all GST revenue on behalf of the States and Territories, the Intergovernmental Agreement provides that accountability and performance arrangements will be established between the State and Territory governments and the ATO. The Ministerial Council endorsed a number of updates to the GST Administration Performance Agreement between the Australian Taxation Office and the States and Territories.
The Ministerial Council also discussed GST administration costs and related issues and agreed the ATO’s GST administration budget for 2004-05, consistent with the requirement of the Intergovernmental Agreement that the States and Territories compensate the Australian Government for the costs of administering the GST.
Loan Council Allocations for 2004-05
Today’s meeting of the Loan Council endorsed the Loan Council Allocations nominated by the Australian Government and each State and Territory for 2004-05