Chalmers sought advice on stage three tax cuts months earlier than previously known
The government maintains it started thinking about stage three tax cut changes over Christmas. New documents show they were being scrutinised months earlier.
The Albanese government sought advice from Treasury on the potential cost of changing the stage three tax cuts as early as October 2023, despite telling the public that an overhaul was not considered until the Christmas break.
On 7 November 2023, Capital Brief submitted a freedom of information request to the federal Treasury which sought modelling, analysis, estimates, or correspondence between the department and the government on the impact of amending the then-legislated stage three tax cuts on either tax receipts or the budget generally in the 12 months to October 2023.
Treasury surfaced two relevant documents but denied access, claiming the material was “deliberative”. The Information Commissioner then initiated a formal review of Treasury’s decision.
On 15 July 2024, Treasury informed Capital Brief that it had revised its original decision and would release one of the two documents in part while the Information Commissioner’s review continued. The unreleased document is being withheld on the grounds that it is both cabinet material and deliberative in nature.
