Simplified Personal Tax: Can Australians Be Trusted to Do the Right Thing?

As tax time looms, many Australians are gathering evidence of deductible spending to file a personal income tax return post June 30, with their hopes pinned on receiving even a small sum back. However, in the UK and New Zealand,"wage slaves" and others with comparatively simple tax affairs are spared the need to fill in a return at all.Ten inquiries have looked into simplifying tax returns over the past two decades, but Australia's policymakers have held back. Jason Kerr, a researcher at the Australian School of Business, finds strong evidence for a hybrid system that would entrust taxpayers to do the right thing.