In the lead up to this year’s federal election the Financial Services Council (FSC) has called on Canberra to stop tinkering with superannuation taxes and instead examine the taxation system as a whole to arrive at better outcomes for Australians.
The recommendation has been made as part of the industry body’s “Federal Election Policy Priorities” paper and has been made regardless of which party forms the next government of Australia.
Further the FSC stressed the current practice of making constant amendments to the country’s retirement savings framework is ineffective from a tax perspective and only serves to undermine consumer confidence in the system.
Instead FSC chief executive Blake Briggs suggested the next government take a holistic and evidence-based review of the entire tax system.
“A mature tax reform debate requires all options to be left on the table, including taxes on superannuation, the company tax rate and the GST (goods and services tax),” Briggs noted.
“The history of superannuation tax changes under both major parties has been tinkering that undermines confidence in the system. If the major parties do not commit to a holistic, evidence-based tax review, the FSC calls on both sides of politics to rule out changes to superannuation taxes,” he added.
Applying a broader financial services view the FSC recommended the establishment of a “red tape razor gang” to eliminate inefficient sector regulation. Its possible responsibilities would include allowing for the rationalisation of legacy superannuation and managed investment products, simplifying the breach current reporting scheme, the introduction of a product labelling regime for sustainable and responsible investments, and providing a level playing field under the foreign investment framework.
Further the paper indicated the future government should introduce simple tax and funds management regulatory changes aimed at enhancing the both productivity and growth.
In addition a call was made to finalise the Quality of Advice Review reforms and implement an investment component in the National Innovation Visa.