Australia’s future tax system

Have you heard about Ken Henry, the Secretary to the Treasury? He’s the guy who took 5 weeks leave from his job as a senior government official to go look after a colony of wombats. He’s rescued lots of native animals on his two properties out of Canberra.

Which is why I’m encouraged to learn that he’s asking for public submissions to the government’s tax review. I feel like he’s concerned with similar issues to me, that it might be useful for me to write to his office and make a case for changes to the tax system that would help the environment.

The review (announced earlier this year) is going to “look at the current tax system and make recommendations to position Australia to deal with the demographic, social, economic and environmental challenges of the 21st century.” It will include all Australian Government and State taxes, except the GST.

The website, Australia’s Future Tax System, specifically mentions environmental concerns. If it wasn’t being run by a man with a proven track record of environmental concern, I might have dismissed it as greenwash. And maybe it is. But I think it’s worth writing in anyway – the squeaky wheel gets the grease, after all!

If you want to make a submission too, here’s the guidelines. If you’re not keen on writing in, but would like to have a say, leave me a comment about what tax you think should be changed to make it more environmentally friendly, and I’ll see if I can include it in my own letter.

I’m going to focus on the perverse incentives caused by some taxes. For example, SUVs receive a tax break while fuel-efficient cars and hybrids do not. That just encourages people to buy the most polluting type of vehicle available – but if it were switched, people would be encouraged to do the right thing by lower costs on better cars.

It should be easier for people to make the right decision. A tax system that supports people who want to do the right thing would make us all better off in the long-term as well as the short-term. So I’m going to take this opportunity to have my say, and cross my fingers that it has any kind of impact at all