Tax

Nearly three-and-a-half decades after a catastrophic crash wiped out the Japanese asset bubble, its stock market has finally hit a record high. But the ASX is not following, amid a raft of mixed profit results. Follow the latest updates in our live blog.

Outgoing ATO boss Chris Jordan said "Australians love their work-related expense deductions" and abolishing them in favour of lower personal income tax rates "would be a big step". 

Shadow Treasurer Angus Taylor says personal income tax has increased by a "record" 27 per cent in the first 18 months of the Albanese government.

The ASX closed down, Virgin CEO Jayne Hrdlicka announced she will step down and BHP CEO Mike Henry speaks with The Business.

Professor Ross Garnaut says Australia's economy experienced a "lost decade" from 2013 to 2023. Can these ideas turn things around, asks Gareth Hutchens.

The Reserve Bank of Australia did no independent modelling of the inflationary impact of the stage 3 tax cuts, the ABC has confirmed.

The Australian share market closed higher as miners benefited from a rise in commodity prices, while insurers IAG and QBE and Inghams closed lower after releasing their latest earnings results missing analyst profit expectations. After years in the making, the OECD has released Pillar Two of its global plan to collect more tax from multinationals. But will countries implement it?

Minutes after an important international joint statement, an alert pinged out to media for an afternoon photo opportunity, write Annabel Crabb and Brett Worthington.

The ASX ended higher on Thursday despite data from the ABS showing the unemployment rate climbed to 4.1 per cent in January. Meanwhile, some major companies posted rising profits, including gas giant Origin and Wesfarmers. Read how the day unfolded.

Australia's tax system is stacked so heavily against younger people that it's threatening the social compact, former Treasury secretary Ken Henry has warned.

Amidst the parliamentary ping-pong between Labor's hard sell of its tax cuts and the Coalition's alarm at convicted immigrants on the loose, it's become clear all sides are keeping a close eye on another issue that could prove to be a far more powerful vote driver: housing, writes David Speers.

At least 150 Australian Taxation Office officials have been investigated as part of a GST fraud crackdown, resulting in "employment terminations and criminal proceedings", according to a new report from Australia's auditor-general.

WA's revised GST deal is set to cost the federal government $50 billion over a decade, not $39 billion as estimated, economists say, warning that it's not justified and should be changed.

The Australian share market finished lower for the day as earnings season continued, while the price of bitcoin surged to $US50,000 for the first time in two years and AGL's Loy Yang A power station in Victoria suffers an outage.

The Prime Minister has so far stared down the minor party's demands, but he will need the Greens' support to pass his first home buyers legislation.

Greens housing spokesperson Max Chandler-Mather says negative gearing unfairly benefits those already in the housing market at the expense of those who are not.

Workers shoulder the burden of paying for the things we want: schools, hospitals and a civil, safe society. But as our population ages and more people need support, can income tax continue to fund our needs? 

RBA governor Michele Bullock said the central bank would consider cutting rates before inflation returned to 2.5 per cent if the economy was in good shape, while the ASX ended higher for the third-straight day after a subdued start.

Former IT worker Abhishek Mishra alleges that he owes fees and penalties on almost $400,000 in tax debts because NBN Co and EY have breached their employment obligations to remit the taxes and provide him with "proper and independent" taxation advice.

The prime minister, obviously, is now wagering that people won't mind him breaking a promise if it lands them some extra cash in their pockets, write Annabel Crabb and Brett Worthington. 

Australian shares end higher after AGL posts a better than expected half-year profit and upgrades its forecast for the full year. Mainland Chinese shares shrug off the worst deflation numbers since the global financial crisis. Look back on how the trading day unfolded.

Dutton may not have produced much policy detail in the 21 months since the last election, but he's talking a big game about what's to come, writes David Speers. 

Shadow treasurer Jane Hume defends the opposition folding on Stage-3 tax cuts.

The Australian share market rebounds from two straight sessions of losses led by heavyweight miners, while the Woodside-Santos merger collapses, and NAB promotes British-Canadian executive Andrew Irvine as its next CEO.

There are two things the prime minister needs to get into his head about tax. One is that saying he won't make any further changes no longer works. The other is that negative gearing doesn't do much to get people into homes, writes Peter Martin.