Labor's tax changes would have benefited nine in 10 young Australians if they had been in place since the turn of the century, the Treasury chief says as the chorus protesting the budget amps up.
Department secretary Jenny Wilkinson presented fresh analysis of the controversial tax package, which includes changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax concessions and a $250-a-year tax rebate for workers, during a post-budget address on Thursday.
While some younger people would not benefit from the tax changes, trade-offs were unavoidable in system-wide reform, Ms Wilkinson said.
The reforms, if implemented in the past 25 years, would have provided a cumulative benefit to about 90 per cent of young people, she said.
"These are the most significant reforms to the tax system in a quarter of a century," she told the Australian Business Economists lunch in Sydney.
