Rest of tax plan stays on agenda: Morrison

Treasurer Scott Morrison is sticking with his 10-year business tax plan and will re-introduce its remaining parts when the parliament sits in May.

Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison

Treasurer Scott Morrison is sticking with his 10-year business tax plan. (AAP)

Treasurer Scott Morrison will push ahead with the unlegislated tranche of his 10-year business tax plan when parliament returns for the budget in less than two weeks.

The treasurer's pledge comes as the Trump administration announced it would slash the US corporate tax rate from 35 per cent to 15 per cent.

Mr Morrison told an economists' conference on Thursday Australia's tax competitiveness is poor, ranking 27th out of 33 OECD countries.

It was not only the US rate, he said, noting the UK is heading for 17 per cent and French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron's intention to extend the planned French tax cut, which reduces corporate tax rates from 28 per cent to 25 per cent.

"More favourable tax rates ... across Europe and Asia puts further pressure on our ability to attract investment and for businesses, our businesses, to remain internationally competitive," the treasurer told the Australian Business Economists lunch.

He says that is why the government worked hard to get the first stage of the enterprise plan passed by parliament when it last sat in March.

"That's why we believe the full enterprise plan should be implemented," Mr Morrison said.

The government secured Senate support to reduce the tax rate to 27.5 per cent from 30 per cent for companies with a turnover of up $50 million over the next three years.

The 10-year tax plan aims to reduce the rate to 25 per cent for all companies.

Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott says doing nothing on taxes is not an option faced with a massive cut in the US.

"There's no doubt that a company tax reduction of this magnitude would profoundly change the arithmetic for global investors when they decide where to put their money," she said in a statement.

"This tax cut is a massive threat to the incomes of Australian workers. It will suck billions of investment dollars away from countries like Australia and funnel it back to America."


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Source: AAP



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