Indirect tax criticised

Press, 15 May 1985, Page 38

Indirect tax criticised

NZPA-AAP Canberra The Australian Federation of Consumer Organisations has challenged the notion that a radical shift to indirect tax is the only way to get revenue out of tax avoiders. On the contrary, the association says, a broadbased consumption tax will only worsen tax avoidance and evasion by fostering a black economy of tax-free transactions. "The comparatively high resources devoted by the

tax office to sales tax investigations suggests that if some members of the Government think indirect tax is the path to a Nirvana free of tax avoiders, the Commissioner for Taxation thinks otherwise,” the association’s representative on the Economic Planning and Advisory Council (Mr John Braithwaite,) wrote in a paper to be represented to the council next week. He said the only effective way of grappling with the inequity of the tax system

was a good old-fashioned moral crusade against tax avoiders and evaders. Tinkering with tax rates missed the point of the root deficiency in the tax system i — supine enforcement — a i deficiency which would only i be compounded by putting ; pressure on the tax office to collect a new broad-based i consumption tax. i AFCO would like to see the tax office thoroughly investigated and publicly reported on by management consultants and experts from other countries