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2.15 Deputy G.P. Southern of the Minister for Treasury and Resources regarding estimates by sector of the tax gap arising from Zero/Ten' proposals:
Would the Minister agree to release to all Members the estimates of the sectoral breakdown of the tax gap caused by the Zero/Ten proposals that were given to Scrutiny last week? Would he justify the level of secrecy he has attached to them, and would he inform Members of the basis on which the estimates for potential yield from attribution or distribution are based?
Senator T.A. Le Sueur (The Minister for Treasury and Resources):
Yes, Sir. I have already released to the Corporate Affairs Scrutiny Panel those figures
to which the Deputy refers in order for them to undertake an independent review of their validity, should they so wish. I will be releasing the figures publicly when I publish my proposals for the Zero/Ten' legislation. At the present time, they contain information which might indicate policy in respect of attribution or distribution in advance of that publication and may be of benefit to competitive jurisdictions. I
should point out that this procedure is consistent with the way in which I treat all budget revenue estimates, including income tax and impôts duty, in that although the latest figures are released to the Corporate Affairs Scrutiny Panel on a confidential basis, they are not publicly disclosed until the Budget is lodged. As with the Budget, this still leaves ample time for Members to review the figures prior to the debate taking place. I would point out, Sir, that in any case these are still estimates and in this particular case estimates of revenue or revenue loss 5 years in the future. When the proposals are lodged, the figures will be available to everyone to look at.