Australia could raise 21 bln USD by raising goods tax: report

The Australian government would raise 21.3 billion U.S. dollars by increasing its Goods and Services Tax (GST) by 5 percent, a new report detailed on Monday.

The Deloitte Access Economics report modeled raising the GST from 10 percent up to 15 percent and to 12.5 percent, with both outcomes predicting billions of dollars of extra government revenue even with compensation to the nation's lowest earners.

A spokesperson for Deloitte said the results of the study could influence the government to take further action on GST sooner.

"We allowed enough compensation to make sure the poorest Australian families were actually better off, rather than worse off, and you were getting, under one scenario, an extra 30 billion (21.3 billion U.S dollars) a year," the spokesperson said.

"Under the other scenario, an extra 20 billion (14.1 billion U. S dollars) a year. That's big bucks."

Australia's Treasurer Joe Hockey has recently asked for a " sensible, mature debate" about raising the Goods and Services Tax, which is one of the lowest of all established nations.

State leaders have in the past shown reservations about agreeing to any changes, with Victoria's Premier Daniel Andrews and South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill opposing the discussion earlier this year.

But Deloitte Access partner Chris Richardson said the research could sway state leaders to agree to tax reforms, however the current political climate -- which is heavily focused on the prime minister's position -- meant discussions about tax could be placed on the backburners for months.

"The politics at the moment are really frustrating, as both sides happily throttle each other rather than focusing as much as they should on running the country," he said. Endi