Talking with the tax team about policy

<p><strong>On this week’s <em>Policy Forum Pod</em> we lift the lid on one of the most hotly-contested policy areas – taxes – and speak to the authors of a new report on how we can create a tax system that eases the unfair burden on younger Australians.</strong></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>Despite repeated calls for reform – including Ken Henry’s Tax Review of 2008 – Australia’s tax system remains complex. But according to the authors of a new report, it’s not just complicated and hard to understand, but also a system that unfairly penalises younger people while giving older, wealthier Australians concessions. So, what’s going wrong in Australia’s tax system, why have we found it so politically problematic to get substantial change, and what would a fairer tax system for all look like? This week on <em>Policy Forum Pod</em> we speak to two of the report’s authors, Professor Robert Breunig and Kristen Sobeck.</p><br><p>The report, <em>The taxation of savings in Australia: theory, current practice and future policy directions </em>is written by Peter Varela, Kristen Sobeck, and Professor Robert Breunig at Crawford School’s Tax and Transfer Policy Institute. It is available to <a href="https://taxpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/uploads/taxstudies_crawford_anu_edu_au/2020-07/20271_anu_-_ttpi_policy_report-ff2.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">download here</a>.</p><br><p><strong>Professor Robert&nbsp;Breunig</strong>&nbsp;is the director of the&nbsp;<a href="https://taxpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tax and Transfer Policy Institute</a>. He&nbsp;conducts research in three main areas: economics of the household, empirical industrial organisation, and statistical and econometric theory.</p><br><p><strong>Kristen Sobeck</strong> is a Senior Research Officer at Crawford School of Public Policy's <a href="https://taxpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tax and Transfer Policy Institute</a>.</p><br><p><strong>Martyn Pearce</strong>