<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/jim-chalmers" rel="" target="" title="Treasurer Jim Chalmers"><span>Treasurer Jim Chalmers</span></a><span> has acknowledged the "troubling imperfections" in the tax system that leave younger </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/australia" rel="" target="" title="Australians"><span>Australians</span></a><span> worse off than their parents and grandparents, opening the door to solutions that could include rolling back generous superannuation concessions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Speaking following the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/jim-chalmers-productivity-roundtable-road-user-charge-tax-reform/19becdd0-fff0-4603-b7dc-92115e2d9cc4" rel="" target="" title="conclusion of his three-day productivity roundtable yesterday"><span>conclusion of his three-day productivity roundtable yesterday</span></a><span>, the treasurer was asked about the "intergenerational bastardry" baked into the tax system.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our tax system is imperfect and one of its most troubling imperfections is best seen through an inter-generational lens," he replied, adding that everyone at the summit understood the need to ensure younger generations aren't left worse off.</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.9news.com.au/national/jim-chalmers-productivity-roundtable-road-user-charge-tax-reform/19becdd0-fff0-4603-b7dc-92115e2d9cc4" rel="" target="" title="Road user charge, tax reform draw closer after productivity roundtable wraps up"><strong><span>Road user charge, tax reform draw closer after productivity roundtable wraps up</span></strong></a><span></span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chalmers said the government will continue to review the tax system, consulting with the experts who were invited to the roundtable.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He hasn't outlined exactly what the reform could look like, saying this morning it's a matter for the cabinet to decide, however there are a range of options that could be considered.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Chief among them is an income tax cut, which would then need to be paid for by reducing the generous concessions in other areas of the economy.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/possible-tax-system-changes-productivity-roundtable-treasurer-jim-chalmers/bcd1f1b3-bc6e-4d7a-87c9-deeb5c082c97" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/finance/gst-why-are-there-calls-to-change-it-australia-tax-system-explained/90b4e02e-8aec-4a15-8727-e2ba31209a98" rel="" target="" title="several economists have called for the GST to be broadened and increased"><span>several economists have called for the GST to be broadened and increased</span></a><span> to bring it into line with other advanced economies' consumption taxes, Chalmers and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have shown little appetite to touch it, leaving other culprits – like superannuation concessions – as more likely candidates.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I think what (Chalmers) wants to do is potentially fund a bit of income tax relief through things like higher taxes, potentially on superannuation, capital gains, trusts," </span><em><span>Australian Financial Review</span></em><span> economics editor John Kehoe told </span><em><span>Today</span></em><span>. </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/inheritance-tax-wealth-tax-proposal-could-raise-70-billion-australia-institute-claims/18a33e7d-5bbd-4812-88da-4a5198c508d4"><strong><span>Call for 'death tax' to help Australia raise $70 billion</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"He wasn't that explicit, but reading the tea leaves, that seems to be where it's all heading."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Australians have a combined $4.1 trillion saved in their superannuation accounts, however the massive income pool is also the subject of massive tax concessions – more than $50 billion relating to earnings and employer contributions last financial year alone.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Any change is unlikely to be delivered soon.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Albanese has taken a cautious, steady-as-we-go approach to government, and has said he doesn't have a mandate for tax change beyond a proposal to increase the tax rate on some superannuation earnings for the ultra-wealthy.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Any further reform is likely to be taken by Labor to the next election, and therefore not come into effect until at least 2028.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Big, substantial changes to the tax system will be taken to the people," Labor national president and former federal treasurer Wayne Swann said.</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/finance/gst-why-are-there-calls-to-change-it-australia-tax-system-explained/90b4e02e-8aec-4a15-8727-e2ba31209a98" rel="" target="" title=""><strong><span>Why experts want to raise one of Australia's least popular taxes</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><h3><strong><span>Urgent need for change</span></strong></h3></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>One of the experts at the productivity roundtable was Grattan Institute chief executive Aruna Sathanapally.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She outlined the urgent need for tax reform, including by pointing to the unfairness caused by Australia's reliance on income tax and the accompanying concessions for making money in just about any other way.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The major driver of this inequality is the treatment of income in retirement, where superannuation earnings and withdrawals are not taxed over the age of 60," she told the roundtable yesterday. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"And so a retiree household, earning $100,000 per annum, can pay less than half of the tax of a working household with the identical income, purely on the basis of age…</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/why-is-it-so-wet-in-nsw-dry-melbourne-extreme-weather-explained/5584f062-b265-467f-9bac-9b3b943e26d3"><strong><span>Great for Melbourne, bad for Sydney: The factors causing August's strange weather</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"This inequity in tax treatment extends to incomes in working life as well, through the way we treat investment in housing, and the use of trusts and private companies."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She called for competing parties to compromise in order to get necessary reform through parliament.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is too easy to torpedo change," she said. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The temptation for the media and vested interests is to amplify any conflict and flood the zone with bad analysis and hysteria. </span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The fact that many of the better taxes are more noticeable to people, and the worse taxes are just politically easier, is fertile ground for a scare campaign.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Common ground is what people want and need from Australia's leaders."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS 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