Tax

Australian Taxation Office whistleblower Richard Boyle has avoided convictions and a jail sentence, seven years after publicly exposing aggressive debt collection practices at the tax office.

Australia Post is taking the extraordinary step of immediately suspending many forms of shipping to the United States, as a Trump administration tariff deadline approaches on Friday.

At least 6.5 million Australians will have no say in who inherits their superannuation, according to new research from Super Consumers Australia. It is urging people to make sure they have a legally "binding" nomination to ensure their super goes to the people they want it to.

The failure to match population with housing and infrastructure has led to a more serious decline in living standards than is evident from GDP per capita statistics.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers won't be making big reforms to the tax system immediately. He knows major policy changes can have unintended consequences.

New York Attorney-General Letitia James says she will appeal the decision, which upheld the ruling that Mr Trump inflated his net worth but quashed the financial penalty set by a judge.

The opposition will say Jim Chalmers hasn't been talking about the right things. The reform purists will say the big issues remain untackled. 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has conceded Australia's tax system is "imperfect", declaring he's "won support" for broader tax reform that addresses intergenerational inequity at the conclusion of the government's three-day reform summit in Canberra.

The benchmark index added 1.1 per cent on Thursday, with all sectors rising as stocks climbed to fresh records. Take a look at how the trading day unfolded plus analysis from our specialist business reporters on the markets blog.

The treasurer's priority in this term has shifted from tackling cost of living to productivity and the unions are yet to score a victory.

A County Court of Victoria jury finds Huvasi Cayli guilty of defrauding the Australian Taxation Office of $87,000 through GST refund claims.

While the federal government insists its economic round table is more than just a talkfest, businesses are calling for a major reduction in red tape and excessive bureaucracy. 

Treasurer Jim Chalmers opens the much-anticipated productivity round table with an appeal for participants to seek consensus. Meanwhile, the NDIS has emerged as a key "structural issue" in the budget being eyed by the federal government for further reforms.

Australia's decline in productivity, and falling business investment, has policymakers worried. It's why they're meeting in Canberra this week. 

The S&P/ASX 200 closed 0.7 per cent higher on Friday at 8,938.6 points, ending the week on its highest ever note, and on route to breaking the 9,000 barrier. 

One observer describes next week's economic roundtable this way: "Chalmers has opened a can of worms — and everybody has got a worm."

As industry leaders and the federal government prepare for next week's economic summit, two economists have started a national conversation by arguing that, to make Australia's tax system fairer, we should consider taxing home owner-occupancy. Here's what that means.

Australia is now a "home owner's welfare state", leading economists argue, and if the tax treatment of housing were reformed, the nation as a whole would benefit.

Despite a surge in interest rates and a jump in loss-making rentals, few landlords are selling up. Experts say it's because negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount protect their investments.

The prime minister has talked down the prospect of major tax reform emerging from the government's productivity round table, less than a fortnight from the forum at which the treasurer has said that nothing will be off the table.