Labor dodges key tax questions

Jim Chalmers has pushed back on Scott Morrison’s tax free guarantee, accusing him of walking away from an international agreement.

But the shadow treasurer dodged questions on his own tax policy during an interview on Sunday.

Mr Morrison has promised a re-elected Coalition would be bound by a “lower tax guarantee”, pledging there will be no new taxes on workers, retirees, superannuation, small businesses, electricity or housing.

Speaking with the ABC, Dr Chalmers called the promise unbelievable given the Prime Minister‘s record.

“You can’t believe a word that Scott Morrison says about the economy and especially about tax,” he said.

“This is the second highest taxing government of the last 30 years. The highest taxing government was John Howard’s.”

Both Labor and the Coalition have committed to the OECD-G20 global tax plan that would force companies to pay a minimum rate of 15 per cent.

Dr Chalmers questioned if Mr Morrison would walk away from the agreement.

“Is he sticking with his commitment he’s made by press release this morning, or sticking to the commitment he made to 130 other countries that Australia would take meaningful steps on multinational tax reform?” he asked.

“The whole world is moving in this direction and Australia should be part of it. Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg said they should be part of it.”

But pressed if could offer his own guarantee, the Labor frontbencher declined to provide further details.

“We have said that we are not proposing any tax reforms beyond the proposals that we will shortly make about multinational tax reform,” Dr Chalmers said.

The Prime Minister announced the Coalition’s “iron-clad” guarantee to deliver $100bn in tax relief to Australian workers over the next four years.

“Lower taxes are at the heart of our economic plan for a stronger economy and stronger future,” Mr Morrison said.

“There is a clear choice at this election and Australians should know that a vote for Labor means higher taxes with real consequences on your mortgage repayments, grocery bill and household budget.”