Labor may revisit a plan to abolish state taxes on insurance products.
The Henry tax review in 2009 recommended that specific state-based insurance taxes - which raise about one in every $12 of state tax revenue - be abolished because they are inefficient.
Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen told an Insurance Council function in Sydney on Friday that getting rid of such taxes would require national leadership to secure co-operation from the states.
"In the national debate about tax reform, dealing with the distortionary effects of insurance taxes will need to be high on the agenda and federal Labor will be taking an active role in that debate," Mr Bowen said.
Mr Bowen said the history of tax reviews showed that recommendations are rarely implemented immediately "but are often implemented eventually".
He said Labor was gathering policy ideas ahead of the next election but any changes to policy would take regard to the "national interest".
