While the Turnbull Government continues to negotiate with Senate crossbenchers on its proposed reduction in the company tax rate, One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has signaled that she may oppose company tax cuts if the Government is eventually forced to offset the loss of revenue by increasing taxes on households. From The AFR:
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson has upped the stakes for the May budget, saying that her presumed support for the government’s proposed company tax cut is not certain…
Senator Hanson’s equivocation on the company tax cut issue was a shock to the government on Sunday. It had effectively banked the four votes of One Nation in the Senate. Labor and the Greens oppose the $50 billion company tax rate cut to 25 per cent over the next decade, meaning the government needs One Nation and the Nick Xenophon Team to get the measure passed.
Asked on the ABC’s Insiders program on Sunday if her support for the company tax cut was guaranteed, she said “No”.
“I want to have a closer look,” she said.“…if you think I’m going to give a company tax and then a few years down the track, they are saying ‘Hang on a minute, we haven’t got enough money to run the country or we can’t lower our deficit, we are going to increase the tax on Australians up to 15 per cent’, I will not support that.”
Raising taxes elsewhere, letting the Budget deficit blow-out, or having to cut expenditure on things like health, welfare or infrastructure are guaranteed if the Coalition’s company tax cut goes through.
The Treasury’s own modelling estimated that the policy would cost the Budget an estimated $8.2 billion a year once implemented, whereas it would have minuscule offsetting benefits to either jobs or growth.
Do the patriotic thing, Pauline, and scuttle the Coalition’s daft company tax cut policy.
