Tax Reform: Progress from the Forum We Had to Have

The October Tax Forum may have been a federal government must-have due to its post-election power deal with independent MPs. However, little more than a month out, moves to define future reforms are taking shape. A high-level working group has been tasked with looking at company tax issues, while New South Wales and Queensland treasury officials are convening to discuss harmonisation of state taxes. Plans are also afoot for a new federally funded Tax Studies Institute. Australian School of Business professor Neil Warren, who attended the forum and spearheaded the call for the institute, delivers an insider's view of the forum we had to have.