<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A major Australian accounting body has floated the idea of increasing the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/tax" rel="" target="_blank" title="GST"><span>GST</span></a><span>, 25 years after the tax was first implemented.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>CPA Australia said it would submit a five-point plan for "fundamental reform" to the GST ahead of Treasurer Jim Chalmers' economic reform roundtable later this year.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prime Minister John Howard's government introduced the goods and services tax on July 1, 2000 – 25 years ago this week.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.domain.com.au/news/where-its-cheaper-to-buy-than-rent-1396765/?utm_source=9news.com.au&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=editorial-homepage-driver" rel="" target="_blank" title="The Aussie suburbs where it's cheaper to buy than rent"><strong><span>The Aussie suburbs where it's cheaper to buy than rent</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The tax is set at 10 per cent on most goods and services sold in Australia.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It's time for a grown-up conversation about Australia's tax system and the GST's structural weaknesses," CPA Australia chief executive Chris Freeland said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"For the past quarter of a century the GST has remained virtually unchanged, and its inconsistencies and design flaws – such as taxing some foodstuffs and not others – have been ignored."</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/gst-increase-lead-accountancy-body-calls-for-change/e1d69873-3a9c-4bb0-933a-e77a66fd5e53" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>CPA Australia called for the government to "identify what a broadened tax base should look like" and model the revenue that would come from a change to the GST rate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/bryan-kohberger-admits-to-idaho-university-student-deaths/50e715a2-d6a2-48fe-8d16-2345db79455e" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Man admits to brutal slayings of four US uni students</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Freeland said it would result in decreased income tax for individuals and businesses.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Most tax specialists believe that increasing the GST is the key to broadening the overall tax base," he said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Reducing the reliance on personal income tax would put more money in people's pockets and ultimately generate more revenue to drive economic growth."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/diddy-update-sean-combs-found-not-guilty-on-most-serious-charges-in-sex-trafficking-trial/05f4fcdf-86cf-4d76-91d1-3090cb7da44c" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Diddy supporters cover themselves in baby oil after bombshell court verdict</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But, he said, any reform would also have to consider adequate compensation for those who would be hit hard by an increase with limited tax cut offset, such as lower-income households and pensioners.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"OECD statistics show that Australia has an unsustainably high burden on income tax, which means workers and businesses contribute a lot more of the base compared to other countries," Freeland said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a 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