NO. 103

27 October 1998

The Government’s taxation reform package Tax Reform: not a new tax, a new tax system foreshadowed a targeted consultation process to assist in determining the final GST design issues on various technical matters.

Mr David Vos, Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed to chair the Tax Consultative Committee to assist the Government in this consultation on the outstanding GST design issues.

He will be joined by Professor MrPeter Tannock, Vice Chancellor at the University of Notre Dame and Chairman of the National Catholic Education Commission and ProfessorDr Judith Whitworth, Chief Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Medicine, University of New South Wales at St George Hospital..

Brief biographies are attached.

The terms of reference for the Committee are attached.

The Committee is to report to the Government by 13 November so that the drafting of the legislation can be completed and introduced into the Parliament prior to Christmas.

Contact:

Rob Heferen

Treasury

02 62634351

, the Committee Chairman, is a tax Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, in its Sydney office. He is that firm’s Australian leader of its GST practice. He was employed in the Australian Taxation Office during the period 1964 to 1977. In 1977 he joined the previous firm of Coopers and Lybrand and became a partner in 1983. David has specialised in indirect taxes for all of his working life and has had a significant involvement in tax reform, particularly since the early 1980’s..

David is the spokesperson for the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia on indirect taxes matters and tax reform generally. David was a member of the GST Planning and Co-ordination Office established in 1991. He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia, the Australian Society of CPA’s and the Institute of Australia. He is also an associate member of the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators.

is Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer and Professor of Medicine, University of New South Wales at St George Hospital, Sydney. She is a consultant physician and past President of the Australian Society for Medical Research, Past Chair of the Medical Research Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council, a former Councillor of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and Vice President of the International Society of Hypertension. She is a graduate of Melbourne University and lives in Canberra.

is Vice Chancellor of the University of Notre Dame Australia. He is also Chairman of the National Catholic Education Commission and the West Australian Football Commission. He was Professor of Education and Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Western Australia. He has held Fellowships at the Johns Hopkins University, The Australian National University and the University of London. He has been a member of the secretariat of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris. He has held the positions of Chairman of the Commonwealth Schools Commission in Canberra, and Director of Catholic Education in Western Australia. Professor Tannock was educated at the University of Western Australia and the Johns Hopkins University.

2. The design issues the Government requires assistance with are determining the scope of four of the GST-free areas as follows:

• health;
• education;
• religious services; and
• non-commercial activities of charities.

3. The Committee will also consult on specified transitional arrangements issues relating to motor vehicles.
4. In framing its recommendations to the Government, the Tax Consultative Committee will need to:

• take into account the policies laid down in Tax Reform: not a new tax, a new tax system and other Government announcements in these areas;
• ensure the tax system minimises any discrimination between private and public provision of goods and services in the GST-free areas;
• ensure business and charitable organisations are treated on an equivalent basis where they provide similar goods and services on a commercial basis to consumers;
• ensure the recommended scope of the GST-free areas are as simple and clear as possible;
• ensure the resulting compliance and administrative costs of its recommendations are kept to a minimum; and
• ensure its recommendations do not have significant adverse revenue impacts.