A coalition of Australian business comprising all industry sectors and including both large and small businesses, met today to explore the development of a unified approach to fundamental and comprehensive tax reform.

After the meeting, the business coalition agreed a unified approach and purpose are essential to achieve meaningful tax reform.

The business coalition is approaching the task from first principles and building a position that can achieve broad community support. Most importantly, it is approaching the task with the conviction that a fairer, more efficient tax system is achievable.

It was agreed that Australia needs a tax system that encourages investment and saving, creates jobs and meets generally accepted community standards of fairness. The current Australian tax system fails on all these counts. It hinders rather than enhances competition, it is complex, cumbersome and costly to comply with and it is increasingly unfair to large sections of society.

In the globalised economy and in the face of on-going revolutions in information and communication technology, business decisions, more than ever before, are made on an international basis. These pressures will only intensify. The tax system must be designed to meet the realities of the international market place. It must attract local and foreign investment to fuel economic development; enable goods and services to be supplied at competitive prices and to assist in the generation of jobs to overcome the problem of unemployment.

The alternative is to see local and foreign investors pass by and for Australians to be deprived of the extra jobs, the greater wealth and the broader economic and social opportunities that a more internationally competitive tax system will provide.

The tax system needs to be rebuilt to meet clear national objectives and it must be designed using a consistent set of principles. It should enhance competitiveness, be transparent, carry low compliance costs and allow resources to be allocated where they can be most efficiently employed. Further the tax system should meet the concerns of equity through its interaction with social security measures and through its ability to raise adequate levels of government revenue.

The challenge is to restructure the system of taxation to meet the demands of a modern economy.

The business coalition welcomed the extensive and diverse range of participants, and recognised the importance of the continuing role of the Tax Forum. The business coalition was particularly pleased with the strength of resolve and the unity of purpose of all participants. More than anything else, this underlines the unparalleled opportunity for change that now exists.

Membership of the Business Coalition

Aluminium Council; the Australian Bankers Association; Australian Business Limited; the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry; Australian Constructors Association; the Australian Food Council; the Australian Institute of Company Directors; the Australian Institute of Petroleum; the Australian Retailers Association; the Australian Society of Certified Practicing Accountants; the Business Council of Australia; the Electricity Supply Association of Australia; the Employers Federation of NSW; the Federated Automobile Chamber of Commerce; the Housing Industry Association; the Institute of Chartered Accountants; Life, Investment and Superannuation Association; the Master Builders Association; the Metal Trades Industry Association; the Minerals Council of Australia; the National Association of Forest Industries; the National Farmers Federation; the Property Council of Australia; the Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Tourism Council of Australia; the Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Western Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.