Confronting the sacred cow : the politics of work-related tax deductions

Abstract

A common theme among recent proposals to reform Australia’s personal income tax system is that lower personal income tax rates (or increased thresholds) could be partially funded through the elimination of work-related tax deductions. While such base broadening represents good tax policy in that a well-designed reform package has the potential to improve the efficiency of the income tax system without necessarily reducing progressivity, the analysis presented in this article suggests that such proposals are fraught with political difficulties.