Letter

In response to The GST — past, present, future — and always tense

No need to increase the GST

Despite all the rhetoric, there is no need to increase the GST. Indeed, there is no need to panic about improving our tax system, overall. However, there is one area of taxation that could do with a massive shake-up, and doing so could solve a lot of problems.

Foreign companies — especially mining companies — must be forced to pay their fair share for the right to use our nation’s people, resources and infrastructure to make a profit. Despite making huge profits, many such companies have paid no Australian tax for decades – and we know how they do it, by shifting their profits to foreign tax havens via inter-company loans.

Luckily, there is a simple way to prevent this tax avoidance: by taxing foreign companies 1% of the revenue they collect in Australia. One percent is not too much to ask for the right to profit from our people, our resources and our infrastructure. It would raise billions of dollars without having to increase the GST.

— Tom Orren from Wamberal