[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-184419-en":3,"doc-seo-184419-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":28,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":29,"read_time":11},184419,7971461741311,"Ophelia","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/74000253aff267980c6?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1779345379180704826",8,"Research & Report","Tax Amendment Bill Inquiry - ALP Submission","The Australian Labor Party (ALP) submission addresses Schedule 1 of the Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008 and responds to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters inquiry. The ALP argues against tax deductibility of political donations, citing concerns about regressive effects, reduced political equality, and distortion of the electoral system. The submission also highlights expected budget savings and contends the Bill aligns tax treatment for political parties with donation disclosure reforms.","Labor National Secretariat  \nMr Kai SwobodaSecretary  \nTax Amendment Bill Inquiry  \nJoint Standing Committee on Electoral MattersParliament HouseCanberra ACT 2600  \nDear Mr Swoboda  \nThank you for the opportunity to contribute to the JSCEM inquiry into Schedule 1of the Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No.1)Bill 2008.  \nThe following comments are provided by the ALP to inform the work of theCommittee.  \nYours sincerely  \nTun  \nGae  \nTim GartrellNational Secretary  \nAustralian Labor Party(National Secretariat):Submission on Schedule1 of the Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No.1)Bill 2008.  \n# 1.Introduction\n\nThe Australian Labor Party(ALP)welcomes the introduction of the Tax LawsAmendment (2008 Measures No.1)Bill 2008 into the federal parliament,and itspassage through the House of Representatives.  \nThe ALP notes that this Bill implements Labor's election commitment to improvethe transparency,accountability and integrity to the Australian electoral system.  \nThe amendment addresses the problems caused by the large increase in thedeductibility threshold introduced by the Howard Government,which raiseddeductibility from $100 to $1500.  \nThe Coalition Government changes also allowed corporations and other largeentities to deduct the fullamount whereas the previous laws were confined toindividual,real-person,donors.  \nThe ALP took a strong stand against these changes in Opposition,and the Billbeing considered by the Committee gives form to Labor's policy in this area.  \nThe amendment Bill gives form to the commitments contained in the ALP NationalPlatform,namely:  \nClause 49:Labor will abolish the tax-deductibility of political donations,and reverse the Howard Government's attempt to hide donations by liftingthe disclosure threshold from $1,500 to $10,000.1  \nThe Bill's intention was also supported by the then Shadow Special Minister ofState,Alan Griffin MP who described the tax deductibility of political donations as:  \n“A massive windfall to coalition donors.”2  \nThe ALP believes that the public policy grounds for the Billare clear.  \n# 2.Arguments against tax-deductibility\n\nThe ALP believes there are good public policy grounds for removing the tax-deductibility of political donations.  \nThe Democratic Audit of Australia made the argument in its 2006 papereffectively:  \n“Tax relief can play a role in encouraging political participation throughcontributions.However,it can also have regressive effects and hence,undermine political equality.The present system of tax relief,for instance,favours the wealthy because,having more disposable income,they aremore able to take advantage of the subsidy.Further,for the same amount  \nof political donation,the wealthy,being subjected to higher income taxrates,receive a greater amount of public subsidy.\"3  \nWhile there are some arguable benefits in increased civic participation in thepolitical process which are foregone in abolishing deductibility,there exist manymore avenues for that participation to occur,without facing the risk of distortionin the Australian electoral system.  \nAdditionally,the ALP believes that donations from individuals to political partiesshould be genuinely philanthropic and an additional inducement from the tax-payer is unnecessary and not justifiable.The ALP does not believe that tax-payersshould subsidise individual donations in this way.  \nThe ALP notes that removing tax deductibility for contributions to political partieswill save an estimated $31.4 million over the forward estimates.  \nThe ALP believes that removing tax deductibility remains the best policy option forpromoting integrity in the political system.  \nBy removing the deductibility provisions,rather than restoring them to their pre-2006 levels,the federal government is bringing the tax law relating to politicalparties into line with amendments already foreshadowed by the Special Ministerof State on donation disclosure.These tax laws will further improve the integrity ofthe electoral system and will work i","cbCaisZjMCk6HTGP","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisZjMCk6HTGP","pdf",1715458,2,1,3,"English","en",105,"# 1. Introduction\n# 2. Arguments against tax-deductibility\n# 3. Balance in the Bill\n# 4. Concluding comments","[{\"question\":\"What is the ALP submission about in this document?\",\"answer\":\"It provides the ALP’s comments on Schedule 1 of the Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008 for the JSCEM inquiry, focusing on political donation tax deductibility.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the ALP oppose tax-deductibility of political donations?\",\"answer\":\"The ALP argues it can have regressive effects, favour wealthier donors, and undermine political equality and integrity by distorting the electoral system.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the ALP view the balance of the Bill?\",\"answer\":\"The ALP considers the Bill a balanced and targeted response, noting that MP and senator contributions may remain deductible under general tax deduction rules.\"}]","Tax Amendment Bill Inquiry - ALP Submission | PDF",1788359346,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":29},"tax-amendment-bill-inquiry-alp-submission","",{"@graph":36,"@context":84},[37,52,67],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,49],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",{"item":50,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":51},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/tax-amendment-bill-inquiry-alp-submission/184419/",4,{"url":50,"name":13,"@type":53,"author":54,"headline":13,"publisher":56,"fileFormat":59,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":60,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":59,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":55},"Person",{"url":41,"name":57,"@type":58},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-09-05","2026-09-02",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"What is the ALP submission about in this document?","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"It provides the ALP’s comments on Schedule 1 of the Tax Laws Amendment (2008 Measures No. 1) Bill 2008 for the JSCEM inquiry, focusing on political donation tax deductibility.","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"Why does the ALP oppose tax-deductibility of political donations?",{"text":79,"@type":75},"The ALP argues it can have regressive effects, favour wealthier donors, and undermine political equality and integrity by distorting the electoral system.",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"How does the ALP view the balance of the Bill?",{"text":83,"@type":75},"The ALP considers the Bill a balanced and targeted response, noting that MP and senator contributions may remain deductible under general tax deduction rules.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":50,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":57,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":50},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,96,100,104,109,114,119,122,127,130,134],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":51,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":101,"show_sort_weight":102,"slug":103},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":105,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":120,"slug":121},30,"research-report",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":126},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":125,"slug":129},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":131,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":132,"show_sort_weight":131,"slug":133},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":135,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":136,"show_sort_weight":105,"slug":137},19,"General","general"]