Federal cabinet considered extending an alternative tax break to medium and large businesses as it became obvious corporate tax cuts would not get through the Senate.
Labor, the Greens and crossbenchers blocked a bid by the coalition government to reduce the company tax rate from 30 per cent to 25 per cent for businesses of all sizes.
For some months there has been speculation of a move by the government to instead extend the small business "instant asset write off" to medium and large businesses.
AAP made a freedom of information request to Treasury seeking details of correspondence or working papers relating to the extension of the instant asset write-off, covering the period from December 1, 2017, to August 16 this year.
In its response, Treasury identified two documents but refused the release of both of them because they "contained information the disclosure of which would reveal a cabinet deliberation and decision".
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Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen told AAP it appeared the government considered a policy similar to the Labor Australian Investment Guarantee that applies to all businesses.
He said with the defeat of the company tax cut proposal the coalition had lost its "one-point plan for the economy".
"The fact of the matter is that Labor has a better offering for small and medium-sized businesses for the next term of parliament - support for a 27.5 per cent company tax rate as well as access to Labor's investment guarantee."
