In August 2025, the Federal Government conducted a three-day Economic Reform Roundtable (reform roundtable) and which discussed certain economic strategies for future directions of the Australian Economy.
The three-day summit was promoted as an opportunity to harvest ideas regarding the nations significantly slowed productivity growth.
No new tax policies were announced at the reform roundtable.
Furthermore, the reform roundtable concluded in August without agreement on major tax measures.
Day three of the reform roundtable considered tax issues.
At the reform roundtable, at this stage, Treasurer Chalmers suggested a further tax review by the government was not warranted.
Prior to the reform roundtable, the Productivity Commission published the following recommendations in an interim report:
- to introduce a headline company tax rate of 20% for businesses with a turnover of under AUD $1 billion
- company tax rate of 30% would remain for businesses with a turnover over AUD $1 billion
- all businesses would pay a 5% tax on cash flow
Any future Australian tax reform would be based on the following guiding principles:
- There should be “a fair go for working people, including intergenerational equity terms”. Potential tax policy changes as such, seek to shift the burden from younger workers to older Australians.
- there should be “an affordable, responsible way to incentivise business investment”
- there should be “a simpler, more sustainable tax system to fund the services people need”
At the reform roundtable, the Government received some 900 submissions, five Productivity Commission Reports. Specifically, the following organisations offered potential areas of tax reform:
- the Grattan Institute – suggested (in a presentation dated 21 August 2025) the Government tax retirees’ superannuation and raise more revenue by slashing capital gains discount and cracking down on family trusts
- the Australian Council of Trade Unions – identified capital gains tax, family trusts and negative gearing as areas of reform for the current Labor Government
Outside of tax, other priorities for reform included:
- A road user charge to meet declining petrol excise as more users purchase electronic vehicles
- abolishing nuisance tariffs
- cutting red tape associated with the National Construction Code
- a broader national artificial intelligence plan
- streamline environmental protection and;
- biodiversity laws and dealing with backlog of environmental approvals for new homes.
Final notes
Any new future tax policies of the current Federal Labor Government, to be taken to the next Federal Election in 2028 would be subject to future Federal cabinet decisions over coming months and years.
Next steps
The above Productivity Commission proposed turnover tax provides some uncertainty. If your business is currently planning a significant transaction where the estimated tax liability is uncertain, please contact your trusted Nexia adviser.
