Tax and Politics: The Danger Zone Where Speed Can Be Fatal

The row over the federal government's planned carbon tax has again highlighted the tricky mix of politics and tax. Add to that the controversy over the proposed flood levy and the ongoing debate over the Mineral Resource Rent Tax that claimed significant political casualties under its former guise as the Resource Super Profits Tax. While it's impossible to separate politics and tax, advises Judith Freedman, a taxation law expert from Oxford University, an understanding of the risks of speeding through tax changes is critical. Better processes and institutions are required to educate politicians about taxation so they become alert to the dangers of kicking around tax policy as a vote-catching football, she suggests.