The Government is also continuing to get support from business. The GST will hurt some small businesses that are honest. The other side of the coin is that the GST and the Australian Business Number will generate a huge amount of data for the Tax Office. This will make evasion of GST difficult for those who are in the GST system, and will encourage higher standards in the disclosure of taxable income. Nobody knows how much extra income tax will be paid as the result of the GST, but it could be billions.
Responsible business supports higher standards of tax compliance.
Finally, although a GST, as Paul Keating has pointed out, is not a first order reform, the fact that it is at last happening, has removed a major uncertainty for business. Login Enter your username and password here to login, or click Join Now to register as a new user.