‘Net negative': Positive Economics Advisory's David Williams-Chen delivers warning as Labor mulls family trust tax changes
Labor imposing a flat tax rate on family trusts could be a 'net negative' for the economy, an expert has warned after a report arose the government is considering trusts in its raft of tax reforms.
Sources told the Australian Financial Review Labor is likely to propose higher taxes on family trusts as Treasury ramps up scrutiny of the tax-friendly investment vehicles in its economic reforms.
Many Australian families and businesses use the trusts to protect their assets and split income between beneficiaries to reap the benefits from the lower tax rates.
The report follows Labor proposing a minimum 30 per cent tax rate on trusts as part of its failed swath of tax reforms it took to the 2019 election.
Positive Economics Advisory's managing director David Williams-Chen said if Labor were to apply a flat tax rate, Aussies would find a way to avoid it.
'People will respond to incentives and we see this time and again,' Mr Williams-Chen told SkyNews.com.au.
'Whether it's smokers buying black market tobacco to avoid paying high price cigarettes as excise levies have increased.
'Or whether it's the wealthy who have taken advantage of lower tax settings in superannuation before balance transfer caps and contribution limits came into place.
'We know there'd be a response.'
He pointed to research from US academics Shahar Rotberg and Joseph Steinberg where it was found increasing wealth taxes incentivised people to hide their assets and resulted in lower tax revenue.
Mr Williams-Chen urged the government to keep in mind taxpayers' capacity to avoid other taxes and even warned this could lead to a situation shown in the work of Rotberg and Steinberg.
'The evidence from the US shows that once the behavioural responses to wealth taxes on capital are factored in, there's a likelihood that they're actually negative for the economy,' he said.
'Rotberg and Steinberg in 2024 found wealth taxes would cause an overall decline in economic welfare between 0.3 and 0.4 percent.'
The individuals who are the beneficiaries of a trust pay their personal income tax rate on the distributions.
This means the tax paid on a trust can vary from zero per cent to 47 per cent.
Labor considering changes to family trusts, alongside plans to tax high earning super accounts and wind back electric vehicle rebates, come as Labor faces a decade of deficits and ballooning costs of the NDIS and defence.
The Albanese government also faces reduced tax revenue from lower tobacco excise and falling fossil fuel exports as Australia continues on its renewables shift.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
44 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
South Australia Police drops literacy and numeracy tests for new applicants
Liberal senator Alex Antic discusses South Australia Police's dropping of literacy and numeracy tests for new applicants. 'The first thing I'd say about this is, this actually really shows the crisis that we've got in amongst policing,' Mr Antic told Sky News host James Macpherson. 'This is just another one that this Labor government is struggling with and having problems with.'
Herald Sun
2 hours ago
- Herald Sun
A-League: Western United hit with pay breach notices
Western United has again been given a 14-day deadline to pay overdue wages to players and staff. Don't miss out on the headlines from Football. Followed categories will be added to My News. Western United has again been served with breach notices by a host of the A-League club's players over unpaid wages. It's the second time in two months that United has been issued breach notices by disgruntled players, who were also forced to endure late pay in May. United had 14 days from Friday to make the payments. If the club fails to meet the deadline, players will be entitled to leave to the club, regardless of their contract status. A club spokesman said United was in 'constant communication with all players' and was working 'closely with the PFA (Professional Footballers Australia) and the APL (Australian Professional Leagues) to ensure this is addressed in the coming days'. Earlier in the week, United officials had been confident the club's proposed new majority backers – KAM Melbourne – would have paid the players and staff their overdue wages by Friday. — Western United FC (@wufcofficial) June 17, 2025 However, the money wasn't forthcoming, leading some players issuing breach notices via PFA. KAM Melbourne, a subsidiary of KAM Sports, was last month announced as financially embattled United's new controlling stakeholders. However, the deal is yet to be approved by the APL, which runs the A-League. PFA chief executive officer Beau Busch earlier this week said United's players and staff were 'victims of a governance model that is not fit for purpose, and where FA (Football Australia) and the APL appear unwilling to enforce their own regulations'. 'The professionalism of the Western United players and staff in the most trying conditions is a testament to their character and commitment to Australian football,' Busch said. 'The players (have been) left to fight for their most basic entitlement as employees. We will continue to ensure the players have access to the full resources of the PFA.' Originally published as Western United given 14 days to pay overdue wages or run risk of losing players Football Adelaide United's treatment of one the club's former players has been described as 'disgraceful'. Football Matildas star Ellie Carpenter appears to be one step closer to signing a massive transfer deal from Lyon to WSL club Chelsea, setting up a reunion with national teammate Sam Kerr.
7NEWS
4 hours ago
- 7NEWS
Social media ban for children is ‘destined to fail' unless parents address their own smart phone addiction, pyschologist warns
Australia is just six months away from bringing in a world-leading law to ban children under 16 from social media but experts say more needs to be done before it comes into effect. Psychologist Danielle Einstein, who briefed the draft legislation for the ban, was on Weekend Sunrise on Saturday to address how it could work. Previously Einstein warned the ban would 'fail miserably' unless the federal government tackles screen addiction first. 'We need a few different things. First of all, we need doctors and psychologists asking patients when they come in with mental health issues about their tech use,' she told Weekend Sunrise. 'It should just be part of normal conversation — 'let's have a look, how many hours were you on here?' 'It's a part of the way we are trying to handle ourselves, and if someone has anxiety and depression, and you miss it because it's not seen as alright to ask about it and the doctors are embarrassed or if the patient makes it seem as if it's not OK (for asking).' Einstein said she didn't mean doctors had to go into extreme detail of how a person uses social media and technology but said conversations around tech use needed to be a part of a 'digital health check' in the same way doctors use a suicide screening. She also said a big public health campaign would be needed to 'expose the addictive' nature of social media and the corresponding health effects it may have on Australians. 'Both students and parents may realise that this isn't actually healthy for them,' Einstein said. For parents wondering what to do now, before the ban is imposed, Einstein encouraged adults to lead by example and cut back on their own technology use. 'The most important thing a parent can do is model,' she said. 'Parents need to be aware of what we do when we walk into the house (or when) at the dinner table: 'Do I have a phone that's near me?'' Einstein said using phones during arguments between parents to show the other person they were wrong had also become common practice but this could be easily stopped if phones are put out of sight. Despite the potential difficulties with executing the ban, Einstein said the federal government's decision to prevent harm to young Australian's should be looked at as a 'tremendous success' as other countries look to follow our example. 'We are leading the world, and we should be very proud of that,' Einstein said. 'Around the world, we've seen people wake up and start to question tech use. 'In Spain, there are paediatric guidelines coming out to show children from zero to six shouldn't have technology, aside for supervised use.' The social media ban for children under 16 years old is expected to come into effect in December 2025. The ban was first announced by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese last year, who said he was 'calling time on it' due to a number of tragic deaths relating to bullying on social media. But there is yet no guarantee technologies aimed at blocking young kids from social media will always work, according to early trial results. While the early findings of a federal government-commissioned trial found age assurance technologies are available, there's no silver bullet. 'Age assurance can be done in Australia and can be private, robust and effective,' the report found. 'We found a plethora of approaches that fit use cases in different ways. 'But we did not find a single ubiquitous solution that would suit all use cases, nor did we find solutions that were guaranteed to be effective in all deployments.' Under the social media ban, platforms will have to take reasonable steps to prevent under-16s from creating new accounts and could face millions in fines for systemic breaches of the new rules. Cabinet minister Murray Watt maintained the need for restrictions around social media. 'The Australian people believe that we do need to see some restrictions around social media use when it comes to young people,' he told ABC News on Friday. 'Unfortunately, it has become an insidious force, both for young people and more widely.' Australia's ban is world-leading and, in the aftermath of the November passage of federal laws, other nations indicated a desire to emulate the measure. However, the legislation does not indicate how exactly the ban will be executed. The report found parental control and consent systems could be effective when first introduced. But there is 'limited evidence' that they would be effective as children grow up or allow kids the right to participate in the breadth of digital experiences. Even after the coalition helped secure an amendment to ensure Australians wouldn't have to provide any form of government identification to verify their age, the trial found there was a risk of privacy breaches. Some age assurance service providers had over-anticipated the needs of regulators and built tools that led to an 'unnecessary and disproportionate collection and retention of data'. Opposition communications spokeswoman Melissa McIntosh has urged Labor to confirm what technology or verification tools will be used to protect kids online. 'No more young lives can be lost or families destroyed because of the toxicity of social media,' she said in a statement. The Age Assurance Technology Trial's final report is expected to be published later in 2025.
