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Australia must lower company tax rate to remain competitive: treasurer

Xinhua, January 27, 2017 Adjust font size:

Australia's treasurer said on Friday the nation must cut its corporate tax rate to remain competitive, or risk shutting off Australian businesses from a globalizing world.

Australia's company tax rate sits at 30 percent and is ranked in the top five tax-paying nations in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Treasurer Scott Morrison said Australia cannot continue to cripple its businesses compared to more generous nations with lower taxes.

Morrison said the government's plan is to cut the corporate tax rate from 30 percent to 25 percent by 2026-27, in order to remain competitive on a global scale.

"If both the parliament and the (opposition) choose not to support keeping Australian businesses competitive, then we run the great risk of stranding our businesses," Morrison told News Corp on Friday.

"We simply cannot afford to not go ahead (with this tax cut)."

Compared to other leading nations, Australia's company tax is considered high. Canada has a 15 percent rate, Singapore has a 17.5 percent rate and the Britain has a 20 percent corporate tax rate.

On the other side of the ledger, the United States has a 35 percent tax rate, but President Donald Trump has outlined plans to lower it to 15 percent to encourage further growth.

Morrison also told a meeting in London overnight that Australia was "falling behind", and needed to take action to avoid becoming "uncompetitive".

"So with much of the world looking to stimulate investment and growth through more competitive tax rates, Australia, as a net importer of capital, risks falling behind and becoming uncompetitive," Morrison said.

"The OECD has found that corporate income taxes are the most harmful major tax when it comes to economic growth."

However, the opposition has criticized the plan, with shadow Treasurer Chris Bowen saying the nation's budget could not afford any further tax breaks.

Morrison has indicated that he plans to introduce legislation to drop Australia's corporate tax rate sometime in the near future. Endit