Tax plan must lift growth: Labor

Shadow assistant treasurer Andrew Leigh says Labor is up for a debate about tax, but it must result in a plan that lifts economic growth.

The Turnbull government says everything is on the table in its tax review, but Dr Leigh says it comes at a time of slow wages growth and weak consumer confidence, with economic growth being downgraded and unemployment up.

"You really need a tax plan that goes to the importance of stimulating growth ... I worry too much that the government's continual talk about cutting penalty rates, their suggestions about raising the GST, could damage the economic prospects of the nation," he told Sky News on Sunday.

But Finance Minister Mathias Cormann said the government did not intend to increase the tax burden on the economy.

"What we have undertaken is to keep all of the potential avenues to improve the tax system on the table," he told Network Ten.

The aim was to improve productivity, encourage people to work harder and save and invest more, he said.