Superannuation concession limits and a wealth tax could unlock national economic productivity, Australia's largest bank says, but others call them a "war on aspiration".
Many have been some surprised and some incensed by the Commonwealth Bank's calls for radical tax reform in its submission to a Productivity Commission review, which also suggests broad reforms to housing, workforce and energy policy.
In its submission to the commission's Five Pillar Productivity Review, the bank noted "uncapped" superannuation concessions appeared unsustainable and called for a discussion on wealth taxes, drawing the ire of opposition finance spokesman James Paterson.
"I'm obviously not in favour of things like wealth taxes, which they propose, which I think could lead to an envy-based public policy and a strategy of pursuing confiscation of people who've done well," Senator Paterson told Sky News on Tuesday.
"A war on aspiration, in order to make up for ill-disciplined spending of the federal government."
At the heart of CBA's submission was Australia's dependence on income tax receipts, a capital source that would shrink as the workforce grew proportionally smaller to an ageing population and as public service demands grew.
"Left unchanged, future generations will bear a growing tax burden in an ageing population with a growing dependency ratio," the submission said.
The bank also hit out at multinational tax avoidance and an uneven playing field between individual taxpayers.
"It will be critical that we find mechanisms to ensure that multinationals do not profit shift offshore but instead contribute to Australia and pay their fair share of tax," the submission said.
"With respect to personal taxes, areas exist to reduce complexity and opportunities for tax avoidance and tax planning that undermine revenue and create horizontal inequity between taxpayers."
The Commonwealth Bank also split with the Business Council of Australia on corporate taxes, stating a reduction in the corporate tax rate was not a priority.
A reduction in the business tax rate, currently at 30 per cent, was at the top of the business group's submission wish list.
On Monday, independent Treasury advice unintentionally sent to the ABC stated the federal government would not meet its home building target, and called for "additional revenue and spending reductions" to achieve budget sustainability.
Federal Labor's modest appetite for radical tax reform has been the source of some criticism, and Treasurer Jim Chalmers has given little away ahead of an upcoming economic roundtable in August on improving productivity, economic resilience and budget sustainability.
So far, Dr Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have ruled out an increase to the GST, which has been at 10 per cent since it was implemented in 2000.
Also, outside of its plan to double taxes on superannuation balances above $3 million to 30 per cent, the government has said it was open to at least one of the Commonwealth Bank's reform ideas.
"We've shown a willingness and an ability to change the multinational arrangements, the PRRT (Petroleum resource rent tax) arrangements and other tax reforms," Dr Chalmers told ABC News on Monday.
"Now, also, we need to remember that tax is an important part of the roundtable, but not the only part of the roundtable."
The economic roundtable in mid-August includes talks from Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock and Productivity Commission chair Danielle Wood.
