Katy Gallagher (ACT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for the Public Service) | Hansard source

I note Senator Chandler uses, I think, an estimate of compliance costs from CPA Australia. We can't and don't—obviously, we don't verify their numbers. They use their numbers and defend their numbers. The Treasury estimate is $88 million per year, and Treasury's estimates were calculated in the normal way and informed by their work with the Australian Taxation Office, who are the experts on these matters.

I would also say to Senator Chandler that the first regulatory reform bill to reduce regulatory burden in this second term of our government was opposed by the opposition. We've got another bill that's currently before the parliament where we seek to, again, reduce compliance burdens. Obviously—and, again, this goes to the issue of the tax reform package as a whole—there's been a lot of commentary and interest in certain elements of the tax reform packages. The tax reform package seeks to make a simpler and more sustainable tax system. The instant deduction, for example, will relieve. And I think people are pretty keen on being able to have an instant tax deduction of $1,000 without receipts. There's also the instant asset write-off, making that permanent, and modernising PAYG to help businesses. And then, of course, there are a whole range of other investments into small business. But you have to look at the tax reform package as a whole.

I understand that the politics of this debate mean that you will be picking certain numbers to support your arguments. But the Treasury estimate for the compliance costs is a much, much smaller number than that provided by CPA Australia. As I said, we don't verify or work through their numbers. They're matters for the CPA to defend.