The Impact of the Henry Tax Review - Seminar
The Women + Work Research Cluster, Centre for Governance, Work and Technologies, RMIT University, The National Foundation for Australian Women & University of Melbourne Law School Tax Group held a workshop on Friday 20th August 2010 on
Women and Tax: The Impact of the Henry Tax Review
The workshop addressed the implications of the Review of Australia's Future Tax System (the Henry review) for:
- women's financial wellbeing/incomes; and
- child care funding and what this will mean for working women
The Story about the Women and Tax workshop can be viewed at http://www.rmit.edu.au/browse;ID=zoem2ph7ym821
Speakers were:
Associate Professor Miranda Stewart, Melbourne Law School, will speak on 'Gender equity in tax policy: a capabilities approach'.
Marie Coleman, National Foundation for Australian Women, will present the latest NATSEM research on the Henry Tax Review and child care funding.
Discussant were:
Christine Peacock, Graduate School of Business and Law, RMIT University
The seminar/workshop addressed:
- the implications for women's financial wellbeing/incomes from the Review of Australia's Future Tax System (the Henry review); and
- what the child care funding proposals will mean for working women
There will be an opportunity for participant discussion
Associate Professor Miranda Stewart: "Gender equity in tax policy: a capabilities approach"
The Henry Tax Review proposed a "capabilities" approach to equity in tax and welfare systems i.e. promoting changes which enable people to live a full life and develop their potential. Miranda will discuss whether this is implemented in the final Review report and more generally, whether a capabilities approach can enable gender equity in relation to work and care responsibilities and the savings and economic security of women Professor Patricia Apps: "Why the Henry Review's family tax reform recommendations are unsustainable".
Patricia Apps will present a paper which shows that the Henry Review's recommendations for targeting family payments (FTB A) and for a flatter income tax scale are unsustainable in an ageing population, due to strong disincentive effects on female labour supply and saving over the life cycle. The recommended reforms are also inequitable. Patricia argues that the only reason for targeting family payments is that it allows the government to take around half the earnings of married mothers for the purpose of funding tax cuts at high income levels, without having to address problems of tax avoidance. She will explain why targeting family payments has never made economic sense, and has caused large losses in labour productivity and the tax base as it sets in train a "race to the bottom.
Dr Justine McNamara: "Child care assistance reform proposals in the Henry Tax Review" Justine McNamara will discuss the proposals for changes to child care assistance put forward in the HTR, looking in particular at the financial effects of such reforms for Australian families with different child care needs, household compositions and levels of income. Comparisons will be made between the current system of child care subsidies and proposals under the HTR, judged in terms of their overall approach and their likely impact on women's labour market participation and economic well-being.
Papers:
Why the Henry Review Family Tax Reform is Unsustainable Presentation
Why the Henry Review Fails on Family Tax Reform Paper
NATSEM Henry Tax Review_Child Care_presentation