Crawford School of
Public Policy
ANU College of
Asia and the Pacic
TAX AND TRANSFER POLICY INSTITUTE
ANNUAL REPORT
FISCAL YEAR 2018-2019
TAX AND TRANSFER POLICY INSTITUTE
ANNUAL REPORT
1 July 2018 – 30 June 2019
Certication by the Director of Crawford School
I hereby certify that the information provided to the Department of Treasury by ANU in:
> the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute’s Annual Report
> the performance data and information
> the nancial tables
provides a true and fair view of the matters reported on therein.
I certify that the Commonwealth funding contributions were applied for the activities of the Tax and Transfer Policy
Institute as specied in the Funding Agreement.
Professor Helen Sullivan
Director, Crawford School of Public Policy
31 August 2019
Front cover, photo sourced from ANU Image Library
CONTENTS
HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2018-2019 3
FROM THE CHAIR 4
FROM THE DIRECTOR 5
About the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute 6
Aims, priorities and strategy 6
Governance 6
Finances 7
People 8
Academic staff 8
Research fellows 9
Professional staff 9
Research assistants 9
Research secondees 10
Honorary research fellows 10
International visitors 11
ANU fellows 12
TTPI research afliate program 12
PhD scholars 13
Research 15
External grants 15
Research programs 15
Tax and transfers, fairness and inequality 15
Tax and transfer system behaviour, compliance and administration 16
Taxation of capital in a global era 17
Budgets, state taxes and federalism 18
Events 19
Signature events 19
TTPI research seminar series 22
Outreach seminars 22
2 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
CONTENTS
Publications 24
TTPI working papers 24
TTPI policy briefs 24
TTPI tax facts 24
Academic publications 24
Reports 26
International research engagement 26
Engagement 27
Selected speeches and presentations 27
Media and opinion 28
Austaxpolicy.com blog and @Austaxpolicy 31
Facebook 32
Education 33
Master degree programs 33
Executive education and other teaching 35
HIGHLIGHTS FOR 2018-2019
Events
19
Outreach
seminars
22
57,169
TTPI blog visits
Blog articles
Facebook reach
90 14
Master and other
courses
27
Working papers
and policy briefs
57
Publications
12,721 65
Articles and
comments in
national media
4 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Unfortunately, to the Morrison Government, having successfully pushed its personal tax
changes through the Parliament following its “surprise” win at the last Federal election, tax
reform is “done”. The Government has also abandoned its previous proposals in relation
to corporate tax. The Government has also ruled out adjustments to welfare benets such
as Newstart, even though it has not been increased in real terms for some 24 years, and is
well below all estimates of the “poverty line”.
By comparison, we are yet to see the Opposition settle on a denitive position on such
reform, having failed to generate electoral support for its proposed, limited, tax changes
at the last election, especially having been the victim of effective “scare campaigns”
against the measures it proposed, particularly in relation to housing and franking credit/
superannuation concessions.
However, TTPI argues that there is still much to be done to achieve broad-based,
wholistic, reform of our tax and transfer system. To this end we have started a process
to build widespread stakeholder support for such reform, researching and advocating
for the establishment of an independent Commission to hopefully generate a level of bi-
partisanship to lift the issues “above” short-term politics.
It is never easy to predict what factors could begin to focus a government’s mind on the
urgency of the need for such reform, but the slowing of global and domestic growth, at
productivity and wages, and the mounting risks of another GFC, could in time produce a
“crisis”, in response to which governments may be forced to embrace genuine reform.
With the Reserve Bank now admitting to very limited capacity to respond to such
challenges, and with the Government’s other main electoral “promise” to produce a decade
of Budget surpluses, and to signicantly reduce national debt, it is reasonable to hope that
the reality of our economic and social fundamentals will come to the fore.
It is possible, for example, that the legislated tax cuts may prove “unaffordable” in the early
2020s, as some of the other expenditure commitments in education, health, the NDIS,
defence and infrastructure impact and constrain the Government’s Budgetary capacity.
These difculties would be seriously compounded by a recession/nancial crisis.
TTPI’s strategy is to further drive our research and contributions to the public policy debate,
to be able to contribute substantively and quite constructively as circumstances change.
Professor John Hewson AM
Chair, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute
FROM THE CHAIR
Annual Report 2017/2018
5
TTPI was established to undertake independent policy research relevant to the
Australia tax and transfer system, to foster informed public debate and to raise
awareness of tax and transfer policy issues. We made major contributions in all of
these areas in 2018-2019.
The TTPI working paper series produced a large number of high-quality papers
including an analysis of the progressivity of the Australian tax and transfer system
and some creative proposals for corporate and capital income taxation. After several
years working with the Australian Taxation Ofce to produce a longitudinal le of
administrative data for use by researchers to improve our knowledge of the Australian
tax system, we published the rst study using these data. As these and other
administrative data in Australia become more available, you can expect to see more
empirical research on these datasets appearing in our series. Greater availability of
and access to administrative data is a very exciting trend and one that holds a lot of
promise for improving our understanding of Australia’s tax and transfer system.
Our Austaxpolicy.com blog remains one of the most highly read blogs at the
Australian National University. Particularly in the lead-up to the election in early 2019,
the blog was a very active locus for discussion and debate about tax policy. Several
TTPI members were very active in the media again this year. TTPI members were
active in talking with current and aspiring parliamentarians about tax and transfer
policy and possibilities for reform.
Our new Tax Facts series extends our attempts to foster informed debate and raise
awareness. Covering topics from tax system design to deadweight loss and the
taxation of rents, these two-page pieces are designed to provide a non-technical
introduction to the tax system for public servants, journalists and members of the
general public. We always welcome your ideas for new topics.
We continue to run our monthly seminar on the ANU campus but we have also
developed a new program of outreach seminars. These seminars are research
presentations given by TTPI members and research afliates, but hosted within
Federal Government departments. We have run over two dozen of these and had
over 400 attendees. They allow us to reach and inform a key audience who are often
unable to come to the ANU campus for a seminar.
We have extended and expanded our collaboration with the Australian Government.
We have secondees from Prime Minister and Cabinet, the Australian Taxation Ofce
and the Department of Social Services. Australian Treasury staff spend regular time at
ANU to interact with TTPI. The Productivity Commission and the Australian Treasury
have presented closed-door workshops. We also began collaboration with state
governments in 2018-2019 and ran a one-day, invitation-only workshop on the topic
of stamp duty and land tax. We have also added two new board members—one from
the Victorian state government and one from the New South Wales state government.
While I am happy about those contributions, I am still worried about Australia. Our tax
system remains in need of systemic overhaul. The tax and transfer system is overly
complex and unfair. Resilience is an issue with several tax bases which are shrinking.
There is also a very heavy reliance on direct taxation. The political parties too often
use the tax and transfer system to buy votes, give handouts to friends or punish
enemies. Yet, an increasingly out-of-date system is eroding our ability to maintain our
high living standards. I continue to believe that comprehensive tax reform is desirable
but, like you, wonder how we can get there from here.
All of us at TTPI look forward to another good year in 2019-2020.
Professor Robert Breunig
Director, Tax and Transfer Policy Institute
FROM THE DIRECTOR
6 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
The Tax and Transfer Policy Institute (TTPI) was established in
2013 with a federal government endowment and is supported by
the Crawford School of Public Policy, at The Australian National
University (ANU). TTPI carries out empirical research on tax and
transfer policies, laws, and administration, that aims to inform
public knowledge and debate in Australia, the region and the
world. TTPI’s research focuses on economic prosperity, social
equity and the resilience of the tax and transfer system.
Responding to contemporary challenges, TTPI aims to foster
and provide a richness and diversity in tax and transfer research,
exploring issues and potential solutions to policy challenges that
governments will face over the next few decades. TTPI is an
independent institute that does not offer a single perspective on
tax and transfer policy.
TTPI undertakes the following main activities:
> Research – empirical and theoretical research and policy
analysis aimed at enhancing the evidence base on tax and
transfer policies.
> Engagement – with research and policy communities in the
business, non-business, and goverment sectors, as well as
the wider public.
> Education – research-led teaching in academia and through
executive education.
Aims, priorities and strategy
The priorities of TTPI for the 2018-2019 year are to:
> build our research capability by engaging with researchers
in Australia and internationally, thereby contributing to new
research on tax and transfer policies, analysis and evaluation.
> expand our empirical research by taking advantage of
new data and modelling capabilities such as: the ATO’s
Australian Longitudinal Individuals File (ALIFE); PolicyMod,
the ANU Centre for Social Research and Methods (CSRM)
distributional model and our existing trials and administrative
data analyses.
> engage in and inuence public debate on Australia’s tax and
transfer system through our social media and blog platforms
and policy products, and through our involvement in creating
a broad-based stakeholder group focused on systemic
tax reform.
> continue to build tax and transfer research and policy
capacity across a range of disciplines through excellent
graduate and executive education, workshops
and secondments.
Governance
TTPI operates as an Organisational Research Unit in the
Crawford School of Public Policy, College of Asia and the Pacic
at The Australian National University. TTPI is therefore subject
to formal governance and nancial accounting arrangements
of the Crawford School. The Director of TTPI reports to the
ABOUT THE TAX AND TRANSFER
POLICY INSTITUTE
Crawford School Director, Professor Helen Sullivan, and through
the Director, to Professor Michael Wesley, Dean of the College of
Asia and the Pacic.
Advisory Board
The TTPI was established to create an independent centre of
excellence for research on tax and transfer policies, to support
policy development and implementation, and take a leading
role informing public debate. The Advisory Board Committee
provides high-level advice, guidance and recommendations to
the TTPI Chair and Director on all matters relating toTTPI.
The Advisory Board of TTPI includes senior representatives from
stakeholder government agencies. It is chaired by Professor
John Hewson and met quarterly in 2018 and biannually in
2019. In 2019, the TTPI Director will seek to appoint a state
representative to sit on the board and is grateful for the advice
and insight on research and policy direction, business strategy
and engagement from members of the Board.
The members of the Advisory Board during the 2018-2019
period were:
• Chair, Professor John Hewson AO, ANU
• Director, Professor Robert Breunig, ANU
• Ms Maryanne Mrakovcic, Deputy Secretary, Revenue
Group, Treasury
• Mr Nathan Williamson, Deputy Secretary, Social Security,
Department of Social Services
• Mr Mike Lawson, Deputy Secretary, Department of Industry
• Mr Rob Heferen, Deputy Secretary, Department of Energy
and Environment
• Mr Andrew Mills, Second Commissoner, Law Design,
Australian Taxation Ofce
• Ms Jenny Wilkinson, Parliamentary Budget Ofcer,
Parliamentary Budget Ofce
• Professor Peter Whiteford, ANU
• Associate Professor Mathias Sinning, ANU
• Dr David Gruen, Deputy Secretary, Economic and G20
Sherpa, Prime Minister and Cabinet
• Professor Helen Sullivan, Director Crawford School, ANU
• Ms Kristen Sobeck, Senior Research Ofcer, ANU
Annual Report 2017/2018
7
Finances
TTPI was established with an endowment from the Australian
Treasury and with contributions from the College of Asia and the
Pacic, the HC Coombs Policy Forum, the Australian National
Institute of Public Policy and the Crawford School of Public
Policy at The Australian National University. The establishment
of TTPI implemented Recommendation 134 of the Review of
Australia’s Future Tax System (2009).
The annual Statement of Income and Expenditure for the period
1 July 2018 to 30 June 2019 is attached at the end of this
Annual Report.
In 2018-2019, TTPI continued to raise external funding for a
variety of specic activities and research projects including
through: Australian government research grants; ANU internal
grants programs; executive education courses and nancial
assistance from corporate partners. TTPI has launched a new
“organisational partners” program to garner support from
corporations and civil sector organisations. Several organisations
have agreed to provide ongoing support.
JG Crawford Building
8 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Academic staff
John Hewson AM, Chair
John Hewson is a Professorial
Fellow at TTPI and an economic and
nancial expert with experience in
academia, business, government,
media and the nancial system.
John was Shadow Finance Minister,
Shadow Treasurer and Shadow
Minister for Industry and Commerce, then Leader of the Liberal
Party and Federal Coalition in Opposition for four years. He
has worked as an economist for the Australian Treasury, the
Reserve Bank, the International Monetary Fund and as an
advisor to two successive Federal Treasurers and the Prime
Minister. Dr Hewson has been a Founding Executive Director of
Macquarie Bank, Chairman ABN Amro Australia, and Chairman/
Director of a host of public and private companies across a
range of industries. He also writes and comments widely across
all media.
Robert Breunig, Director
Professor Robert Breunig is
one of Australia’s leading public
policy economists. His research
is motivated by important social
policy issues and debates, and his
work is characterised by careful
empirical study and appropriate use
of statistical technique. Professor Breunig’s research agenda
has led to many partnerships with government organisations in
Australia and overseas. He works regularly with the Australian
Treasury, the Department of Employment, the Department of
Industry, the Department of Communication and the Arts, the
Productivity Commission, the Australian Bureau of Statistics as
well as many other agencies. He has been a consultant to the
private sector on marketing, mergers, bank competition and
customer loyalty programs.
Mathias Sinning
Associate Professor Mathias
Sinning is an applied economist
who is interested in the empirical
analysis of issues related to Labour
Economics, Public Economics
and Policy Evaluation. His
current research focuses on the
development and application of methods to study treatment
response heterogeneity. Ongoing applied work includes
the implementation of randomized controlled trials to study
behavioural aspects of tax compliance. His work has been
published in Economic Inquiry, Health Economics, Industrial
and Labor Relations Review, Journal of Banking and Finance
and Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, among
others. Mathias has previously held academic appointments
at the ANU and the University of Queensland. He has been a
Visiting Fellow of the Ofce of Population Research at Princeton
University and he is currently a Visiting Fellow of the National
School of Development at Peking University.
Miranda Stewart
Twitter @AusTaxProf
(2650 followers)
Miranda Stewart is Professor at
the University of Melbourne Law
School and a Fellow at the Tax and
Transfer Policy Institute. Miranda was
the inaugural Director of the TTPI
from 2014-2017. Miranda researches, teaches and advises
on tax, transfer and budget law and policy. She has 25 years’
experience working at the leading edge of policy research,
design and development. Current research projects include
gender inequality in the tax and transfer system, international tax
and company tax.
Peter Whiteford
Twitter @WhitefordPeter
(4094 followers)
Professor Peter Whiteford is Director
of the Social Policy Institute in the
Crawford School of Public Policy. He
has previously worked at the Social
Policy Research Centre at the
University of New South Wales in Sydney, and at the OECD in
Paris. Peter is an Associate Investigator with the ARC Centre
of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR), and an
Adjunct Professor with the Social Policy Research Centre at
UNSW. In 2018 he was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of
Social Sciences in Australia.
PEOPLE
Annual Report 2017/2018
9
Research fellows
Ralf Steinhauser
Ralf Steinhauser is a Senior Research
Fellow at the Tax and Transfer Policy
Institute at the Crawford School
of Public Policy and at the Policy
Experiments Lab (PELab) at the
Centre for Social Research and
Methods in CASS. He has previously
held academic appointments at the
University of Hamburg and the Research School of Economics,
ANU. Ralf is interested in empirical research in the areas
of Behavioural Economics, Tax Policy and Environmental
Economics. He has published articles in journals such as Review
of Economics and Statistics, Environmental and Resource
Economics and World Development. Ralf has worked with a
number of government organizations in Australia, such as the
Australian Treasury, the Commonwealth Grants Commission,
the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the Department of the
Environment and Energy.
Peter Varela
Dr Peter Varela is a Research Fellow
at TTPI and is currently working on
a research project examining the
taxation of savings and wealth in
Australia. Peter also works at the
Centre for International Economics
on a wide range of research topics
related to taxation and public policy. Peter holds a PhD in
Economics from the ANU, and been a visiting researcher at
the Ofce of Tax Policy Research at the University of Michigan,
and the Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social
Research.
Yinjunjie (Jacquelyn) Zhang
Yinjunjie Zhang (Jaquelyn) is a
Research Fellow at the Tax and
Transfer Policy Institute (TTPI) in the
Crawford School of Public Policy. Her
research interest spans the areas of
labour economics, public economics
and experimental economics. A
common thread in her research is
understanding the impact of public policy on people’s behaviour,
choice, and welfare. Her publication and research projects
include working on examining the intended and unintended
policy effects on the crime rate, labour market preferences as
well as economic decision-making in both lab and eld settings.
Before joining ANU, she worked in the Chinese branch of a
world-leading consulting rm on delivering employee health and
benet solutions. She obtained her Master degree in Shanghai
Jiao Tong University in China and doctoral degree at Texas A&M
University in the USA.
Professional staff
Kristen Sobeck
Kristen Sobeck is a Senior Research Ofcer at TTPI. Kristen
studied economics and French at Smith College and has a
Master’s degree in Economics from the University of Geneva.
Prior to joining TTPI, she worked as an economist at the
International Labour Organization (ILO) from its headquarters in
Geneva and country ofce in Argentina. She was also awarded a
Fulbright Fellowship in 2007.
Diane Paul
Diane Paul is a Senior Project Ofcer with TTPI. Diane has
been employed with the ANU College of Asia and the Pacic
since 2010, commencing her career with the College nance
department, and then as the Executive Assistant to the
College General Manager. Diane administers TTPI’s activities,
partnerships and projects whilst providing timely support to the
TTPI Director.
Research assistants
Maria Sandoval Guzman
Maria Sandoval Guzman is a research assistant at TTPI, working
in the Austaxpolicy editorial team and on an environmental
review of Australia’s tax system. She holds a Master of Public
Policy in Economic Policy from the Australian National University.
During the reporting period 2018-19, Maria was selected as a
delegate to the Economic Society of Australia’s 2018 Women
in Economics Retreat, and presented her Masters research on
gender-sensitive economic policy at the Department of Jobs and
Small Business, the Ofce for Women (Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet), and the Australian Gender Economics
Workshop 2019.
Teck Chi Wong
Teck Chi Wong is a research assistant with TTPI, working on the
Austaxpolicy blog and the Open Budget Survey project. Teck
Chi holds a Master of Public Policy, specialising in economic
policy, from the Australian National University and a Bachelor of
Accounting from the University of Malaya.
Interns
Nanumi Starke interned at the Austaxpolicy blog from July to
October 2018. She is studying a double degree in a Bachelor of
Asia-Pacic Studies (Year in Asia) and a Bachelor of Economics.
During her time with the blog, she edited blog pieces, liaised
with Australian and international tax experts and worked on an
improved website design to increase the blog’s accessibility
and readability.
Jonathon Zubrzycki is an undergraduate student at the ANU
studying International Relations and Arts. Joining the team at
Austaxpolicy for the rst half of 2019, Jonathon assisted in the
running of the blog, editing articles, writing news and nding
commissions. The experience was incredibly rewarding as was
the opportunity to learn more about tax policy and politics.
10 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Research secondees
Through TTPI’s partnership with government departments, mid-
level executives, selected through a competitive process, spend
time at TTPI under supervision of a senior academic, to carry
out a research project designed in close collaboration with their
sponsoring government agency. TTPI has current secondments
in place from the Australian Taxation ofce, Department of
Social Services and the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s ofce.
The program is on-going and will continue to expand and
offer opportunities to government employees from at least the
EL level.
Andrew Carter is an Assistant
Director in Tax Policy Research at the
ATO. He has previously held tax and
macroeconomic roles at the World
Bank and the Department of Treasury.
Andrew is currently a part-time PhD
candidate at the Crawford School in
Economics. His research is examining
responses to the income tax and
superannuation systems. At TTPI, Andrew examined the degree
to which specic superannuation incentives prolong labour
market participation, and boost income and savings for workers
approaching retirement. Andrew’s secondment period was from
April 2018 to January 2019.
Hamish Hobbs is an economic
policy adviser at the Department
of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
His work involves providing tax and
nancial sector policy advice to
inform government decision making.
He has previously held roles at the
Department of the Premier and
Cabinet in Western Australia advising
on social policy and at KPMG evaluating government program
delivery. Hamish’s secondment period was from August 2018 to
February 2019.
Nitin Srivastava is an Economist
in the Revenue Analysis Branch of
the Australian Taxation Ofce (ATO).
Prior to the secondment, Nitin was
leading an innovative project at the
ATO exploring the linkages between
behavioural economics and articial
intelligence. He had previously worked
with the Behavioural Economics Team
of the Australian Government, Department of Foreign Affairs
and Trade and Macroeconomic Group at the Department of
the Treasury focusing on the Chinese economy and multilateral
forums and in the Revenue Group at Treasury working on
the mining tax and the carbon tax. At TTPI, Nitin will use an
experimental approach to examine the impact of tax prelling on
taxpayers reporting behaviour. Nitin’s secondment period is from
February 2019 to October 2019.
Nick Bachmann is a policy adviser
at the Department of the Prime
Minister and Cabinet. His work
involves providing advice on the
budget and scal policy to inform
government decision making. He
has previously held various roles at
the Commonwealth Department of
Finance. At TTPI, Nick is working to
develop our “Tax Fact” series. Nick’s secondment period is from
February 2019 to August 2019.
Andrew Sinstead-Reid has worked
as an incentives policy analyst at the
Australian Government Departments
of Families, Housing, Community
Services and Indigenous Affairs
(‘FaHCSIA’) and Social Services since
2011. During his 24 year career as a
public servant working on Australian
social security policy, Andrew has
worked as a senior analyst in the Working Age Taskforce (2002-
04) progressing recommendations from the rst ‘Report of the
Reference Group on Welfare Reform’ (‘the McClure Report I’), as
a ‘policy modeller’ modelling the impact on nancial incentives
of the interaction between tax and transfer system elements
(2004-07, 2008-11), and as an incentives policy analyst on the
second ‘Report of the Reference Group on Welfare Reform’ (‘the
McClure Report II’). At TTPI, Andrew will be undertaking a project
examining various social security and incentives policy issues
and trends in their ‘longer run’, historical context, and exploring
reform options and approaches given current and emerging tax-
transfer system pressures and priorities. Andrew’s secondment
period is from April 2019 to March 2020.
Honorary research fellows
TTPI welcomed honorary visiting fellows from academia and the
public and private sectors to carry out research projects and to
actively contribute towards the activities and goals of TTPI, the
Crawford School and the university more broadly.
Michael Corliss is currently employed as an economist at
the Department of Employment, Skills and Family Business.
He started his public service career as an economic advisor at
PM&C. Michael was previously an academic, working on issues
related to wages, employment, structural and technological
change, inequality, regional labour markets, and education
and training. Michael is a research associate for the Centre for
Labour Market Research and is a member of the Economic
Society of Australia.
Annual Report 2017/2018
11
Huong Dinh is a Visiting Fellow at TTPI and in the School
of Public Health at the Australian National University. She
completed her PhD in economics and possesses strong
analytical, econometric and microsimulation modelling skills. Her
research seeks to reveal how structural factors like international
trade, climate change, personal income taxation and transfer
system, and labour markets have socio-economic impacts on
communities, industries, households and individuals.
Christian Gillitzer is a Lecturer in the School of Economics at
the University of Sydney. His research elds are public nance
and macroeconomics. He has done work on topics including
state scal capacity, optimal commodity taxation, the charitable
tax deduction and consumer sentiment. Together with Joel
Slemrod, he is co-author of the book Tax Systems. Prior to
joining the University of Sydney he was a Senior Economist at
the Reserve Bank of Australia and a Research Fellow at the Tax
and Transfer Policy Institute. He holds a PhD in Economics from
the University of Michigan and a Master in Public Affairs from
Princeton University.
Jim Killaly is a former Deputy Commissioner (Large Business
and International) in the ATO and is carrying out systemic
research into the corporate and international tax base, including
current issues in transfer pricing and tax compliance. He was
a recipient of the Public Service Medal in 2005 for his services
in achieving Improvements to Australia’s tax treaties and for
developing and implementing a compliance tax framework for
large business.
Bhashkar Mazumder is a senior economist and research
advisor in the economic research department at the Federal
Reserve Bank of Chicago. He also serves as the executive
director of the Chicago Federal Statistical Research Data Center
(FSRDC). Mazumder’s research has been focused in four areas:
1) intergenerational economic mobility in both the US and
Australia, 2) the long-term effects of poor health early in life 3)
black-white gaps in human capital development and 4) issues
related to household nancial wellbeing. Mazumder’s research
has been published in academic journals such as the Journal
of Political Economy, the American Economic Review and the
Review of Economics and Statistics. In addition to his research
activities, Mazumder also oversees the operations of a research
center enabling access to Federal statistical microdata on behalf
of a consortium of institutions including the Federal Reserve
Bank of Chicago, Northwestern University, the University of
Chicago and the University of Illinois.
Miguel Olivo-Villabrille is a Research Fellow at the
ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research
(CEPAR) at the University of New South Wales. He is an
empirical microeconomist with broad interests, especially
in Labor Economics, Demographic Economics, and
Applied Econometrics.
Paul Tilley brings long standing experience on tax and public
nance in Treasury as former head of the Tax Analysis Division,
Personal and Retirement Income Division, and Budget Policy
Division, as well as time spent at the Department of Prime
Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) and the OECD. Paul is currently
writing a book on the history of the Australian Treasury, including
signicant policy changes in recent decades. His research and
experience on this topic is of great relevance to TTPI’s research
and engagement activities.
International visitors
We were privileged to host Dr. Miguel de Asensio, Professor at
the Universidad Nacional del Litoral (Argentina) and Dr. David
Deming, Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School (USA), during
2018-2019. TTPI is delighted to host researchers, doctoral
candidates and government visitors from around the world who
present in the TTPI research seminar series, and participate in
conferences and other TTPI-sponsored events.
Miguel Asensio
Miguel Asensio is Doctor in
Economics (Alcalá University, Spain)
and Doctor in History (Torcuato Di
Tella University, Argentina). He also
holds degrees in economic sciences
(UNL and UNR, Argentina) and is
an Undergraduate and Graduate
Professor of Economic History and Public Finance (UNL and
others) and Director of Public Administration Doctoral Program
(UNL). He was a Fulbright Scholar at the University of Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania (USA), visiting Professor in Canadian Universities
and a consultant for the World Bank and the Organization of
American States. He is a Member of the Asociación Argentina
de Economía Política (AAEP) and the Federalism Institute
(Córdoba), Former Secretary and Minister of Public Finance in
the Province of Santa Fe, member of Federal Commission for
Taxes, a National Senate Adviser (Argentina), and President of
Two Centuries Foundation.
David Deming
David Deming is a Professor at
the Harvard Kennedy School and
the Harvard Graduate School of
Education, the Director of the
Harvard Inequality and Social Policy
Program, and a Research Associate
at the National Bureau of Economic
Research. His research focuses broadly on the economics of
skill development, education and labor markets. He is currently
serving as a coeditor at the American Economic Journal:
Applied Economics, and is a Principal Investigator (along
with Raj Chetty and John Friedman) at the CLIMB Initiative,
an organisation that seeks to study and improve the role of
higher education in social mobility. He recently won the David
N. Kershaw Prize, which is awarded biannually to scholars who
have made distinguished contributions to the eld of public
policy and management under the age of 40.
12 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
ANU fellows
TTPI benets from a network of ANU Fellows who research on
public nance, tax and transfer theory, data and policy issues
across The Australian National University.
Associate Professor Nicholas Biddle
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences, AUSCEN
Professor Alison Booth
ANU College of Asia and the Pacic, Crawford School
Professor John Braithwaite
ANU College of Asia and the Pacic, RegNet
Mr Rob Bray
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Dr Paul Burke
ANU College of Asia and the Pacic, Arndt-Corden Department
of Economics, Crawford School
Professor Bruce Chapman
ANU Research School of Economics
Dr Nathan Deutscher
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy
Dr Sarah Dong
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy
Professor Matthew Gray
ANU College of Arts and Social Science
Professor Bob Gregory
ANU Research School of Economics
Dr Timo Henckel
ANU Research School of Economics
Mr Christopher Hoy
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy
Professor Michael Kobetsky
ANU College of Law
Mr Chris Murphy
ANU College of Asia and the Pacic, Arndt-Corden Department
of Economics, Crawford School
Professor Peter McDonald
ANU College of Asia and the Pacic, Crawford School
Ms Agnieszka Nelson
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Associate Professor Benjamin Phillips
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Associate Professor Maria Racionero
ANU Research School of Economics
Ms Sue Regan
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy
Associate Professor Julie Smith
ANU College of Asia and the Pacic, RegNet
Professor David Stanton
ANU College of Asia and the Pacic, Crawford School
Mr Matthew Taylor
ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Associate Professor Alfred Tran
ANU College of Business and Economics
Dr Chung Tran
ANU College of Business and Economics
Dr Peter Varela
ANU Crawford School of Public Policy
Other fellows
Mr Rob Heferen
Department of Energy and Enviroment
Ms Serena Wilson
Retired from the Department of Social Services
TTPI research afliate program
To further TTPI’s reputation as a focal point for high quality
empirical research on the Australian tax system, in 2018, TTPI
established a research afliate program. The program, which
explicitly targets researchers in outside of the ANU, aims to
bring together researchers conducting policy-oriented empirical
research on the tax system with other researchers at the ANU
and government policymakers. Appointments are for a three-
year period and junior researchers are offered capped funding to
present at TTPI events. A list of our current research afliates is
provided below:
Professor Patricia Apps, University of Sydney
Dr Kadir Atalay, University of Sydney
Dr Tony Beatton, University of Queensland
Professor Jeff Borland, University of Melbourne
Dr Michael Coelli, University of Melbourne
Dr Marc Chan, University of Melbourne
Assistant Professor Xiaoguang (Shawn) Chen, University of
Western Australia
Professor Dhammika Dharmapala, University of Chicago
Professor Richard Eccleston, University of Tasmania
Professor John Freebairn, University of Melbourne
Dr Christian Gillitzer, University of Sydney
Assistant Professor Steven Hamilton, George
Washington University
Annual Report 2017/2018
13
Dr Ross Hickey, University of Melbourne
Dr Diane Kraal, Monash University
Mr Claudio Labanca, Monash University
Dr Leslie Martiin, University of Melbourne
Dr Sian Mughan, Indiana University
Mr Miguel Oliva-Villabrille, UNSW
Dr Cain Polidano, University of Melbourne
Dr Peer Skov, Auckland University of Technology
Dr Ha Vu, Deakin University
Professor Roger Wilkins, University of Melbourne
Dr Haishan Yuan, University of Queensland
Dr Arezou Zaresani, University of Melbourne
Professor Xueyan Zhao, Monash University
Dr Anna Zhu, University of Melbourne
PhD scholars
PhD scholars at Crawford and across ANU are researching
diverse tax and transfer topics. Some have contributed
substantially towards building the work and prole of
TTPI as students and as research students or fellows. A
signicant number hold a prestigious PhD Scholarship of
the federal government and ANU, the Sir Roland Wilson
Foundation Scholarship.
> Thomas Abhayaratna, ‘Essays in taxpayers
responsiveness’ (Crawford, primary supervisor
Robert Breunig)
> Paul Amores, ‘The role of mental health in transmission of
intergenerational disadvantage in Australia’ (Crawford,
primary supervisor Robert Breunig)
> Andrew Carter, ‘Responses to the tax system’ (Crawford,
primary supervisor Robert Breunig)
> Kevin Chadwick, ‘Engaging households in the emerging
energy market - lessons from behavioural science for
policymakers’ (Crawford, primary supervisor Nicholas Biddle)
> Joseph Chien, ‘From data to dissemination: what can big
data tell us about micro-drivers of productivity’ (Crawford,
primary supervisor Robert Breunig)
> Timothy Crotty, ‘Higher education regimes: mobility
versus stratication; Universities and opportunities in a
time of growing inequalities’ (Crawford, primary supervisor
Peter Whiteford)
> Nathan Deutscher, ‘Intergenerational mobility in Australia’
(Crawford, primary supervisor Robert Breunig, Sir Roland
Wilson Foundation Scholar)
> Jian Ding, ‘An evaluation of the labor contract law in China’
(Crawford, primary supervisor Ligang Song)
> Mark Fabian, ‘A wellbeing production function’ (Crawford,
primary supervisor Robert Breunig)
> Owen Freestone, ‘Australia’s social security system and
its impact on individuals and the economy’ (Crawford,
primary supervisor Robert Breunig, Sir Roland Wilson
Foundation Scholar)
> Hang Hoang, ‘Trade shocks and rm innovation‘ (Crawford,
primary supervisor, Robert Breunig)
> Christopher Hoy, ‘Inequality and redistribution in Indonesia
and Papua New Guinea’ (Crawford, primary supervisor
Stephen Howes)
> Wendy Heatley, ‘Integrating the Australian tax-transfer
system: fair, efcient, sustainable?’ (Crawford, supervisors
Peter Whiteford and Miranda Stewart)
> Sehrish Mohammed Hussein, ‘Educational time use and
the cognitive development of children: Evidence from the
longitudinal study of Australian children‘ (Crawford, Primary
supervisor Robert Breunig)
> Shane Johnson, ‘Examining taxpayers’ understanding
of, and responses to, the Australian personal income tax
system’(Crawford, primary supervisor Robert Breunig, Sir
Roland Wilson Foundation Scholar)
> Sanghyeok Lee, ‘Essays on missing data problems: MSL
estimation in the analysis of censored data and “doubly
robust” estimation in the analysis of treatment effects’
(Research School of Economics, primary supervisor
Tue Gorgens)
> Sora Lee, ‘Governance pathway to health equity using
public value analysis’ (College of Asia and the Pacic, primary
supervisor Sharon Friel)
> Estelle Li, ‘The impact of foreign ownership and foreign
operations on corporate tax strategies in the Australian
dividend imputation system’ (College of Business and
Economics, primary supervisor Alfred Tran)
> Tess McGirr, ‘Social services, tax, transfers and
employment’ (Crawford, primary supervisor Peter Whiteford,
Sir Roland Wilson Foundation Scholar)
> Nurina Merdikawati, ‘Essays on the minimum wage policy
in Indonesia’ (Crawford, primary supervisor Sarah Dong)
> Emily Millane, ‘The Politics of Superannuation Policy’
(Crawford, primary supervisor Miranda Stewart)
> Daniel Nethery, ‘Migrants and the welfare state’ (Crawford,
primary supervisor Peter Whiteford)
> Arnaldo Purdo, ‘Base erosion and prot shifting in
Indonesia’ (College of Business and Economics, primary
supervisor Alfred Tran)
14 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
> Sam Reinhardt, ‘Intersection between macro-prudential
policy and tax policy’ (Crawford, primary supervisor
Robert Breunig)
> Matthew Taylor, ‘The impact of parental leave pay on
parental leave and labour supply and its equity implications’
(Crawford, primary supervisor Robert Breunig)
> Nguyen Thuong, ‘Assessing the dynamism of the informal
sector in Viet Nam: a pillar of development? (Crawford,
primary supervisor Peter Whiteford)
> Leana Ugrinovska-Ugrica, ‘Prot contingent loans for R &
D nancing’ (Crawford, primary supervisor Bruce Chapman)
> Sebastian Wende, ‘Dynamic comparative tax analysis’
(Research School of Economics, primary supervisor
Chung Tran)
> Chris Wokker, ‘Essays in applied microeconomics’
(Crawford, primary supervisor Robert Breunig)
> Eunsup Yang, ‘Essays in the economics of education:
Empirical applications to South Korea’ (Crawford, primary
supervisor Bruce Chapman)
> Christine Yao, ‘Tax base erosion of multinational
enterprises in Australia’ (College of Business and
Economics, primary supervisor Alfred Tran)
ANU Image library
Annual Report 2017/2018
15
TTPI focuses on the empirical and theoretical analysis and
evaluation of tax and transfer policies. We aim to produce high-
quality, policy-relevant research. Our research program aims to
have a balance of projects with short-term and long-term time
horizons and both academic and policy-oriented outputs.
Research is published in our working paper series and in leading
refereed journals in Australia and internationally. We also publish
research in the form of in-depth reports. Finally, we continue to
publish short articles on our blog, Austaxpolicy.com, and in other
media outlets, such as The Conversation and in op-eds.
We have built targeted capacity by obtaining research and
external funding on high priority projects that bring new
research to bear on public policy, especially on topics of: scal
sustainability; tax system behaviour; design of tax-transfer
system interaction and the future of savings and capital taxation.
We hold a variety of academic workshops and conferences
during the year. TTPI researchers provided academic leadership
in a range of forums in Australia and internationally. Robert
Breunig is a member of the panel of expert advisors of the
Parliamentary Budget Ofce and provides advice to the
Australian Bureau of Statistics through several advisory roles.
External grants
TTPI works actively to apply for external research funding.
We are currently working on three externally funded
research projects.
Applying behavioural insights to the tax system in
Australia (2017-2019)
Australian Research Council Linkage Project ($217,000; ATO,
$128,263). This ongoing Linkage Project was led in 2018-2019
by Chief Investigator Miranda Stewart, Nicholas Biddle, Robert
Breunig and Mathias Sinning, with partners at the ATO. The
project commenced in 2017. Postdoctoral researcher Jacquelyn
Zhang joined the project in 2019 and continues engagement on
empirical and behavioural data research on the project.
Are tax base erosion and prot shifting counter measures
effective? (2017-2021)
Australian Research Council: Discovery Project ($391,500). This
three year Discovery project is led by Chief Investigator Alfred
Tran, with Miranda Stewart, and commenced in 2017. It aims
to develop indicators to evaluate the effectiveness of measures
to combat tax avoidance by multinational enterprises. The
Investigators, with the help of our PhD candidate Wanmeng
Xu (ANU) and our research fellow Daniel Minutillo (Melbourne),
are continuing our research into the legal and institutional
development of anti-BEPS measures in Australian and
international tax law, and collating a longitudinal data set of
company nancial and tax reports for the period 2007-2019.
New approaches to tax and welfare in Australia and Korea
(2017-2018)
Australia-Korea Foundation, Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade ($40,000). The second half of this project was nalised
in 2018 with a second collaborative research workshop hosted
at the University of Seoul, Korea in September 2018. The
workshop included researchers from TTPI and other Australian
universities, the Australian Taxation Ofce, the Korean Ministry
of Finance and Institute of Public Finance, and academics
from Korea, Japan and China. Topics included designing
resilient tax systems for a digital global economy; social policy
including disability support provision and the design of tax-
transfer systems and basic income; personal income tax reform,
progressive rates and work participation; international tax and
scal federalism. The network of researchers continues to
engage on joint research projects, and this led to an invitation
for TTPI to participate in a tripartite public nance research
network with China, Korea and Japan, in 2019.
Research programs
TTPI has four research streams, each encompassing a number
of projects:
> Taxation of capital
> Tax, transfers, fairness and lifetime wellbeing
> Tax system behaviour, compliance and administration
> Budgets and scal federalism
Cross-cutting themes in all TTPI research projects are:
> Adequacy
> Resilience
> Simplicity
> Fairness
> Prosperity
> Consistency
Tax and transfers, fairness and
inequality
Economic inequality
Two projects are underway on inequality including the role of
taxes and transfers. Mathias Sinning is the Chief Investigator of
an ARC Discovery Project (DP150104247) on dynamic aspects
of economic inequality. The project examines changes in labour
and housing market conditions and ascertains the factors that
are responsible for the rise in income and wealth inequality in
Australia and internationally, with implications for the design of
tax and welfare systems.
Peter Whiteford is engaged in research into the cost of the
welfare state, inequality, taxes and transfers, including ongoing
research on inequality and inclusive growth with the Institute for
New Economic Thinking at the University of Oxford (2016-2019)
and research on social protection and the future of work with
the OECD.
RESEARCH
16 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Gender inequality in the tax and transfer system
Building on a previous Academy of Social Sciences of Australia
project on gender inequality, tax and social welfare (book edited
by Miranda Stewart, 2017, ANU Press), research continued
on the interaction of tax and transfer systems, childcare policy
and the effects of tax cuts. Research on the history and design
of gender budget analysis and processes continued with the
preparation of a draft working paper and delivery of seminars
and executive education on the topic. Further aspects of
the research were developed by Miranda Stewart and Peter
Whiteford, contributing to the book Hybrid Public Policy
Innovations (edited Mark Fabian and Robert Breunig, Routledge
2018). The academic research was widely promulgated
through policy workshops, executive education and public
presentations and analysis in short blog articles. Research
continues for a workshop on a gender analysis of the economics
of breastfeeding and national accounts, with an Asian Policy
Innovations grant.
A basic income for Australia?
David Ingles, Ben Phillips and Miranda Stewart carried out
theoretical research and modelling to investigate, design and
model varieties of basic income in the Australian context
compared to the current highly targeted tax and transfer system.
The research investigated, and updated, the proposal by the
Henderson Poverty Inquiry (1975) to introduce a Guaranteed
Minimum Income for Australia. Four options were designed and
modelled, shifting from Australia’s tightly targeted social security
system to a fully universal basic income for all adults and children
in Australia, nanced by a tax on wages and wealth. The scal
cost and distributional effects were presented at a major public
conference and published in a book chapter (2019, Melbourne
University Press) with detailed modelling in a forthcoming
substantial working paper.
Tax and transfer system behaviour,
compliance and administration
TTPI researchers have commenced a series of projects that
aim to use new data and methods to deepen our empirical
understanding of the tax and transfer system, and to develop
and test new approaches to modelling and evaluating tax system
behaviour. Many of these projects have been developed in
collaboration with government agencies and other researchers.
Encouraging formal tax registration of micro, small and
medium enterprises in Indonesia
Mathias Sinning and Sarah Dong collaborated with the Institute
of Economic and Social Research at the University of Indonesia
to explore ways to improve tax compliance in the Indonesian
tax system by applying behavioural insights in the context of
business tax registrations. The project focuses on informality
– a highly relevant aspect of tax enforcement in developing
countries – to apply behavioural research to the real world of tax
registrations. The research aims to generate evidence on the
effectiveness of a new business registration system by providing
information to businesses about the availability of the system,
by pointing out that the system is free of charge, by addressing
social norms, and by highlighting that the new system is easy
to use. Studying the effectiveness of interventions that aim to
‘nudge’ businesses to register will improve our understanding
of how tax registration rates can be increased. The project has
received funding from the Asia-Pacic Innovation Program (APIP)
Research Development grant of the ANU College of Asia and
the Pacic.
Using behavioral insights to improve tax compliance in
Papua New Guinea
This project tests the effects of the application of behavioural
insights to the tax system on tax compliance in partnership
with Papua New Guinea’s Internal Revenue Commission. Two
pilot trials have been implemented to determine the effects of
text messages and yers on ling and payment behaviour. This
research is funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs and
Trade of the Australian Government.
Longitudinal individuals le, Australian Taxation Ofce
Professor Robert Breunig continues to provide advice and
support to the ATO as it works to make further data on tax and
superannuation publicly available to researchers. Professor
Breunig is a member of the Technical Advisory Group advising
on the design of the Australian Longitudinal Individuals File
(ALIFE). Researchers now have access to the data. This has
been a very important element of achieving our mission to
foster the production of independent research on Australia’s tax
and transfer system.
PolicyMod: Microsimulation model, Centre for Social
Research and Methods
PolicyMod is a static microsimulation model of the Australian
tax and transfer system and can model household and
individual impacts of existing and alternative policies for
previous years, current year and over the forward estimates.
The model is also capable of projecting the impacts out to
2055. PolicyMod was developed and is operated by the Centre
for Social Research and Methods including lead researchers
Ben Phillips, Richard Webster and Cukkoo Joseph.
PolicyMod modelling capabilities include:
> distributional analysis
> hypothetical (cameo) analysis
> effective marginal tax rates
> optimal policy modelling
> regional modelling
The distributional model considers the entire Australian
population and is capable of estimating the policy impacts for
a vast array of variables such as: family type, income deciles,
housing tenure and social security payment type. The cameo
model provides policy impacts for selected family types across
a range of private incomes.
Annual Report 2017/2018
17
Payment thinking: Applying behavioural insights in the
tax system using randomised controlled trials
Mathias Sinning, Miranda Stewart, Robert Breunig, Nick
Biddle, Christian Gillitzer, Sarah Dong, Emily Millane and
Jacqulyn Zhang worked on an empirical research project
with the ATO on payment thinking and debt in the tax
system. The research involves ground-breaking and globally
important randomised controlled trials to test and evaluate
administration and compliance approaches. The research
is particularly focused on whether behavioural insights
and nudges can be used for business taxpayers, as well
as individuals.
With funding from ARC Linkage Project LP160100810, the
team directly works with tax administrators to explore and
evaluate ways to improve compliance and payment in the
tax system. The project involves innovative eld research
applying randomised controlled trials to assessment,
payment and debt systems. Mathias Sinning is also
applying a new method to these trials to estimate the
proportion of members of a treatment group who benet
from a given intervention, improving randomisation and eld
experiment approaches.
The trials apply behavioural insights such as the provision
of information during phone conversations and the timing of
reminder letters to the real-world tax payment system. Data
from several trials were analysed in 2018-2019. The project
has led to a publication in the Journal of Behavioral and
Experimental Finance in 2018 and to a working paper
on the effects of the timing of reminder letters on the tax
payment behavior of businesses (TTPI Working Paper No.
13/2018). The trials were designed to preserve realism in
all relevant domains and they demonstrate, in a nutshell,
that businesses may not be responsive to all ‘nudges’,
but that they are responsive to help on payment plans
and to the removal of barriers to compliance. Members
of the project team have presented trial results at various
conferences, workshops and seminars both in Australia
and internationally.
Sarah Dong and Mathias Sinning are currently working
on a research paper summarising the results of a trial that
focuses on the ATO’s interaction with new entrants to the
tax system. The project has also led to research in related
areas, including a trial on the collection of trafc and parking
nes in collaboration with the ACT Government.
The research team liaises closely with the Behavioural
Economics Team in the Australian Government. It is
also advised by Professor Valerie Braithwaite and further
develops the ground-breaking work of the Centre for Tax
System Integrity, which she led at ANU over the last decade.
The model is primarily based on the ABS Survey of Income
and Housing and uses a range of other data from ABS and
other Government departments to improve the accuracy and
timeliness of the model. PolicyMod is updated with the latest
survey and administration data as it becomes available to
us. The model governance includes an advisory panel with
representatives from both academia and Government.
Optimal Policy Modelling is one of the recent developments
to PolicyMod – a new methodology to use microsimulation
models to estimate an ‘optimal level’ of Social Security
payments and personal income tax rates to minimize various
policy objectives such as the poverty gap, nancial stress or
work incentives. This paper was presented at the International
Microsimulation Association conference in Ireland (June, 2019),
Australia -Korea Tax Research Workshop in Seoul (Sept,
2018) and various presentations to Academic researchers and
Government organisations.
PolicyMod was used by Ben Phillips, with David Ingles and
Miranda Stewart, to model various forms of basic income,
nanced by wage and wealth taxation, for the Henderson
anniversary conference, Social Security Reform: Henderson
Revisited, Melbourne Institute, University of Melbourne in
February 2018. The research included novel changes to the
benchmark disposable income and tax settings in PolicyMod.
General equilibrium modelling of company tax options
TTPI researchers David Ingles and Miranda Stewart worked with
Visiting Fellow Chris Murphy to understand and model a range
of company tax rate and base reform options. Chris Murphy
has further developed his CGE model of the tax system in the
Australian economy during his time at the Crawford School, with
a particular focus on the efciency of company tax, federal-state
tax reform, nancial services and goods and services tax.
Elasticity of taxable income
Researchers at TTPI led by Robert Breunig and PhD candidate
Shane Johnson are conducting a project using administrative
taxpayer panel record data to estimate behavioural response
elasticities of taxpayers to differential marginal tax rates,
thresholds and notches in the tax system such as the personal
income tax rate structure and Higher Education Contribution levy
phase-in. The project provides valuable evidence of taxpayer
responses through labour supply and tax planning to elements
of the income tax.
Evaluating the mature age worker tax offset (MAWTO)
Robert Breunig and Andrew Carter produced the rst paper in
Australia to make use of the new administrative data released by
the ATO. They showed that the Mature Age Worker Tax Offset
was an ineffective and very costly way of increasing the labour
supply of mature age workers. The paper, which rst appeared
as a TTPI working paper, was recently published in Australia’s
leading economics journal, Economic Record.
Evaluating taxpayer responsiveness to the tax system
Researchers at TTPI led by Robert Breunig have embarked on
a wide range of projects looking at the responsiveness of tax
payers to the tax system in a variety of different dimensions.
18 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Australian States’ tax elasticities
Ralf Steinhauser Mathias Sinning and Kristen Sobeck, engaged
with the Commonwealth Grants Commission to empirically
determine tax elasticities for relevant state taxes (payroll tax,
land tax, stamp duty, insurance and motor taxes). Results of
the investigation will be included in the Commonwealth Grants
Commission 2019 Update Report and will be considered for
the review of the methods used to calculate the relativities for
distributing the pool of Goods and Services Tax (GST) among the
States and Territories, to apply from 2020-2024 and onward.
Tax and the environment
Professor Miranda Stewart and researcher Maria Sandoval
Guzman carried out a targeted research project on tax and the
environment, focusing on tax and pollution, energy and land use,
for the Australian Conservation Foundation.
CAP strategic partner development grant
The College of Asia and the Pacic (CAP) Strategic Partner
Development Grant provides seed funding to help build strategic
partnerships between CAP and partner institutions. The
objective of the Grant is to encourage new collaboration with
strategic partners. In April 2019, Robert Breunig and Kristen
Sobeck were awarded a grant of $5200.00 to participate in the
Korea, China & Australia international Tax Symposium to be held
in Seoul, South Korea in August 2019. The Korea Institute of
Public Finance (KIPF) invited TTPI based upon our collaborations
with them during conferences held in 2017 and 2018.
Taxation of capital in a global era
Future of the company tax
This project explored the theory and different tax policy
approaches to corporate tax in Australia and in a broader
theoretical context from rst principles, applied in the current
context. It became highly relevant in the context of contested
political and public debates (and estimated scal cost) of
lowering Australia’s company tax rate from 30 per cent to 25
per cent.
Miranda Stewart, David Ingles and Chris Murphy nalised a
major project researching aspects of capital taxation and the
corporate tax from a theoretical and pragmatic perspective.
A corporate tax rate reduction, from 30 per cent to 25 per
cent, has been on the political agenda in Australia for the last
three years. Miranda and David worked with Chris Murphy to
design and model the economic and scal effects of various
corporate tax rate and base reforms for Australia, publishing
ve TTPI working papers including analysis pre- and post-
Trump tax reforms that took effect on 31 December 2017, with
worldwide implications.
Budgets, state taxes and federalism
Budget transparency and credibility in Australia
Miranda Stewart and Teck Chi Wong continued their
collaboration with the non-government organisation, the
International Budget Partnership, Washington DC, United
States, to conduct studies on Australia’s budget transparency
and credibility. A project is currently underway to assess the
transparency of Australia’s budget as part of the global Open
Budget Survey 2019 report. This is the second time that
Australia participates in the Survey, with the Australian report
prepared by TTPI. The assessment is done through a detailed
questionnaire and is subject to rigorous independent review by
anonymous reviewers from academia and from the Australian
Government. A Policy Brief explaining the 2017 Survey method
and outcomes was published in September 2018 (TTPI Policy
Brief 2/2018). The global report of Open Budget Survey 2019 will
be released in early 2020.
Another project on revenue estimates and forecasts for company
tax was completed in early 2019. The study assessed the
quality of justications provided by the Australian Government
in the Budget Papers for errors and deviations in company tax
estimates in the period from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018. The
ndings were released accompanying the International Budget
Partnership main report, Explain that to us: How governments
report and justify deviations. TTPI Policy Brief 1/2019 (April
2019) provides a detailed explanation of the ndings.
Annual Report 2017/2018
19
TTPI holds several events each year that bring together
leading members of academia in Australia and globally, with
representatives of government, business, and the community
sector to consider major tax and transfer issues. In addition, TTPI
hosts a popular research seminar series and collaborates with
other partners, to present research and policy workshops.
Signature events
TTPI’s signature events covered a broad range of topics in 2018-
2019, from behavioural economics, to ACT stamp duty/land tax,
and tax and welfare in Australia and Korea. These events brought
together academic experts, policymakers, administrators, and
representatives of the business and community sectors to
discuss and raise debate on these topical issues.
Behavioural Economics and Public Policy Conference
9-10 August 2018
The TTPI Conference on Behavioural Economics and Public
Policy (TTPI-BEPP2018) was held as part of the project
“Applying Behavioural Insights to the Tax System in Australia”
in partnership with the Australian Taxation Ofce (ATO) and
funded by the Australian Research Council.
In 2018-2019, TTPI researchers explored ways to
improve tax compliance and payment in the tax system in
partnership with the ATO, by applying behavioural insights
to design innovative payment interventions and evaluate
their effects by randomised controlled trials. The research
involved the development of methodological tools to
examine heterogeneity in treatment responses and the
combination of empirical ndings with a study of regulatory
and administrative processes to support the ultimate
goal of a legitimate, fair, cost-effective and responsive
tax system. The aim of the TTPI-BEPP2018 was to bring
together policymakers and empirical researchers in the
eld of behavioural economics to discuss issues related to
behavioural economics and public policy, with a particular
focus on tax compliance. The TTPI-BEPP2018 was held on
9-10 August 2018 at the ANU Crawford School of Public
Policy. The keynote speakers were Alexi Gyani (Behavioural
Insights Team, Australia) and Adam Oliver (London School of
Economics and Political Science).
EVENTS
Behavioural Economics and Public Policy Conference ,
9-10 August 2018
Alex Gyani keynote address 10 August 2018
20 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
New approaches to tax and welfare in Australia and
Korea workshop
7-8 September 2018
Australia and the Republic of Korea (South Korea) face
many similar challenges in their tax and welfare systems.
The size of Australia’s tax and social state are larger than
that of Korea, but Korea is rapidly catching up. Both are
facing difculties in tax competition, the digital economy
and how to reform tax and welfare systems to address
demographic changes, gender inequality and changes in
the nature of work. While the systems share many things in
common, they also have signicant differences.
In this workshop, the second of two funded workshops that
aim to build research relationships and cross-fertilise ideas
and approaches, academic researchers and government
ofcials from each country met to discuss new approaches
to common challenges of tax and welfare in both countries.
The Workshop was held at the University of Seoul on 7 and
8 September 2018 and was funded by the Australia-Korea
Foundation of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
It was organised by the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute,
ANU, partnering with the Department of Science in Taxation,
University of Seoul and the Korea Institute of Public Finance.
The Workshop also included comparative presentations
from Japan and China. It followed a successful rst
workshop held in Canberra in November 2017.
Stamp duty and land tax: Lessons learned in the ACT
and future directions for reform
12 September 2018
The ACT Government is implementing an ambitious 20-
year tax reform program to fully phase out stamp duty on
land transfers and replace it with land tax and municipal
rates. Stamp duty is an inefcient tax since it discourages
transactions (the buying and selling of homes) and is a
volatile (but signicant) source of state revenue. By contrast,
land tax is a more efcient tax that would ensure a steady
and more sustainable source of state revenue.
The implementation of such a reform however, presents
many political challenges. Among all states and territories,
the ACT is the only to have taken steps towards eliminating
stamp duty. The purpose of this workshop was to present
the ACT experience and provide a space for government
representatives of all states and territories to discuss
existing challenges and policy reform.
The ACT Government and the Tax and Transfer Policy
Institute (TTPI) jointly hosted the workshop. It was by
invitation-only and largely restricted to state and territory
government representatives.
In addition to the presentation of the ACT Under Treasurer,
David Nicol, three external guest speakers presented at
the workshop: Professor Richard Eccleston (University
of Tasmania), Professor Neil Warren (UNSW) and Belinda
Ngo, Capital Markets Executive Director at the Property
Council Australia. Saul Eslake, independent economist
and Vice Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Tasmania,
also attended.
Australia and Korea workshop, Seoul, 7-8 September 2018
Annual Report 2017/2018
21
Internal worshop
A history of the Australian Treasury and development of
the tax and super systems
5 October 2018
Paul Tilley presented a brown bag seminar drawing on the
work for his book on, A History of the Australian Treasury.
The seminar focused in particular on the development of the
Australian tax and superannuation systems and Treasury’s role in
the key reform exercises along the way.
Public Lectures
Tax Lurks of the rich and famous: Why tax havens harm
Australia, and how we can curtail them
21 September 2018
Andrew Leigh
According to recent estimates, as much as two-fths of
multinational prots may be shifted to low-tax or no-tax
jurisdictions every year, with the impact on the Australian revenue
base amounting to as much as $16 billion annually. In this talk,
Andrew outlined the harms done by tax havens, and outlined
measures to curtail their use by Australian rms and individuals.
Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP is the Deputy Chair of Standing
Committee on Econoomics and Member for Fenner in the
Australian Capital Territory. Prior to being elected in 2010,
Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian National
University. He holds a PhD in public policy from Harvard, having
graduated from the University of Sydney with rst class honours
in Law and Arts.
Argentine Economy in the long run and the formation of
federal nances
25 October
Miguel Asensio
The Argentine economy deserves considerable attention from
a historical perspective. It is a peculiar case since, while it was
relatively successful in the early twentieth century, its economic
performance proved mediocre and declined in the last decades
of the same century. Considering such a controversial trajectory
and in light of contributions from domestic and international
observers, some classic comparisons, with countries like
Australia, Canada or Brazil, can offer renewed interest and
engender new questions. The rst part of the seminar will
reect upon Argentina’s experience compared to these
other countries.
The second part of the seminar will review how the modern day
system of public nance arose in Argentina. Given diverging
regional interests and conicts, the formation of federal
nances followed a complex trajectory until the establishment
of a ‘Fiscal Pact’ in the middle of the nineteenth century. This
evolved over time, with many other transformations, until the
emergence of the modern-day model of revenue sharing. The
principles inherent within the modern day model are reected
in the provisions of the last Constitutional Reform, undertaken
in 1992.
Miguel Angel Asensio is Doctor in Economics (Alcalá University,
Spain) and Doctor in History (Torcuato Di Tella University,
Argentina). He also holds degrees in economic sciences (UNL
and UNR, Argentina) and is Undergraduate and Graduate
Professor of Economic History and Public Finance (UNL and
others) and Director of Public Administration Doctoral Program
(UNL).
Building a better feedback loop
13 November 2018
Andrew Leigh
Assessing whether policies work is fundamental to good
government. Yet all too often, program evaluation is low-quality
or non-existent. Drawing on his recent book Randomistas,
Andrew Leigh discussed the importance of raising the evidence
bar and systemic changes that might ensure that Australia
does a better job of evaluating government policies.
Hon Dr Andrew Leigh MP is the Deputy Chair of Standing
Committee on Econoomics and Member for Fenner in the
Australian Capital Territory. Prior to being elected in 2010,
Andrew was a professor of economics at the Australian
National University. He holds a PhD in public policy from
Harvard, having graduated from the University of Sydney with
rst class honours in Law and Arts.
A History of the Australian
Treasury by Paul Tillley
22 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
What does Education do?
18 March 2019
David Deming
The benets of investment in education is one of the most
robust ndings in social science. Hundreds of studies have
demonstrated the impact of education on earnings, health,
family formation, civic participation, happiness and other life
outcomes. This has led researchers and policymakers to call
for a renewal and expansion of public investment in higher
education, for example through ‘free college’ plans proposed
in many U.S. states and countries around the world.
Yet despite the demonstrated economic value of education, we
have varying ideas about why education is so important. This
talk reviewed what is known about the returns to education,
and argued that the workhorse ‘human capital model’ is an
incomplete description of the value of education for social
mobility and human welfare. Understanding what education
does is necessary for important policy questions, such as
who will gain the most from investments in education, which
policy levers are most effective, and how we should design
educational systems for the future of work in the 21st century.
David Deming is a Professor at the Harvard Kennedy School
and the Harvard Graduate School of Education, the Director
of the Harvard Inequality and Social Policy Program, and
a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic
Research. His research focuses broadly on the economics of
skill development, education and labor markets.
Can we build the case for Tax reform workshop
29 November 2018
The push to make TTPI a major voice for tax and transfer
reform in Australia is being advanced with the formation
of a stakeholder group to advance the cause of systemic
reform. The rst meeting of this group occurred at a breakfast
workshop in Sydney on 29 November 2018. The workshop
included 30 high-prole and inuential people from the
corporate, community and academic sectors. The medium
term goal is to develop a set of propositions for a shared vision
on tax reform and to discuss the desirability and potential for
forming a broad-based coalition for tax reform. A follow-up
event is to be held in July 2019.
TTPI research seminar series
TTPI hosted eight lunchtime seminars in the 2018-2019 year.
These seminars covered a broad range of topics and were
attended by a mix of government employees, the public,
academics and students. The events are audio recorded and
can be found on the TTPI website.
2018-2019 research seminars:
Claudio Labanca, Monash University, ‘Coordination of hours
within the rm’, 10 July 2018
Andrew Carter, Australian Taxation Ofce, ‘The employment
effects of the mature age worker tax offset’, 25 September 2018
Ben Ralston, The Treasury, ‘Does payroll tax affect rm
behaviour’, 9 October 2018
Peter Varela, The Australian National University, ‘Taxing the
return to savings: How does the Australian tax system compare
with ‘best practice’, 26 February 2019
David Deming, Harvard University, ‘STEM careers and
technological change’, 19 March 2019
Brendan Coates, Grattan Institute, ‘Money in retirement: Do we
have enough?’, 30 April 2019
Ross Hickey, University of Melbourne, ‘The effect of tax price
on donations’, 14 May 2019
Shawn Chen, University of Western Australia, ‘Taxational
resource curse: Evidence from China’, 11 June 2019
Outreach seminars
In mid-2018 TTPI began a series of outreach seminars at various
government departments to present research ndings directly
to policymakers. Whilst the program comprised a variety of
speakers and topics, departments were encouraged to contact
TTPI with alternative topic requests. The seminars were well
attended and continued into 2019. A list of presentations by
government department, is:
Parliamentary Budget Ofce
29 August 2018, Mature age worker tax offset, Robert Breunig,
Andrew Carter
14 September 2018, An overview of Australia’s tax system,
Robert Breunig, Kristen Sobeck
5 October 2018, Collateral damage: what we miss when
we focus on the average effect of a policy intervention,
Mathias Sinning
12 October 2018, Tax Progressivity: International Comparison,
Chung Tran
Annual Report 2017/2018
23
Australian Taxation Ofce
5 September 2018, Andrew Carter The employment effects of
the mature age worker tax offset (MAWTO)
12 September 2018, Australia’s high company tax rate
and dividend imputation: a poor tax recipe for a small open
economy? Chris Murphy
24 September 2018, Historical pension and superannuation
debates and the development of superannuation policy in
Australia, Emily Millane
3 October 2018, Collateral damage: what we miss when
we focus on the average effect of a policy intervention,
Mathias Sinning
10 October 2018, The elasticity of taxable income,
Robert Breunig
18 October 2018, The budget, gender, tax-transfers and
inequality, Miranda Stewart
24 October 2018, The history of gender and superannuation
policy in Australia, Emily Millane
14 November 2018, Tax Progressivity: International Comparison,
Chung Tran
21 November 2018, Would Australians be more supportive
of redistribution if they knew what level of inequality existed?
Chris Hoy
28 November 2018, Optimal scal equalisation and its
application to Australia: updated (for Productivity Commission
report) Chris Murphy
5 December 2018, An overview of Australia’s tax system,
Robert Breunig, Kristen Sobeck
Department of Social Services
19 October 2018, Collateral damage: what we miss when
we focus on the average effect of a policy intervention,
Mathias Sinning
Prime Minister and Cabinet
25 October 2018, Collateral damage: what we miss when
we focus on the average effect of a policy intervention,
Mathias Sinning
Treasury
7 November 2018, The history of gender and superannuation
policy in Australia, Emily Millane
Department of Industry, Innovation and Science
10 October 2018, Collateral damage: what we miss when
we focus on the average effect of a policy intervention,
Mathias Sinning
24 April 2019, The effects of immigration on employment
and wages of incumbent Australians, Nathan Deutscher,
Robert Breunig
8 May 2019, Would Australians be more supportive of
redistribution if they knew what level of inequality existed?
Chris Hoy
13 June 2019, Hybrid Public Policy overview, Mark Fabian,
Robert Breunig
24 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
TTPI researchers, fellows and visitors publish and present our
research in a wide range of academic, policy and public forums.
The TTPI working paper series is the only specialist tax and
transfer working paper series in Australia and the region. The aim
of the series is to promote excellent tax and transfer research,
across all disciplines. Submissions are peer reviewed. Working
papers are open access and are listed on the Social Science
Research Network (SSRN) Series. Working papers may be
published jointly with other working paper series or institutes.
TTPI has established an occasional policy brief series providing
explanations and analyses of key tax and transfer issues. The
aim is to inform and explain issues for policy and public debate.
TTPI Tax Facts provide a brief non-technical overview of specic
tax and transfer policy issues.
TTPI working papers
WP15/2018, Breunig, R, Carter, A, ‘Do earned income tax
credits for older workers prolong labor market participation and
boost earned income? Evidence from Australia’s mature age
worker tax offset’ (July 2018)
WP16/2018, Labanca, C, Pozzoli, D, ‘Coordination of hours
within the rm’ (August 2018)
WP17/2018, Killaly, J, ‘The Chevron Australian Holdings case
and the reach of the arm’s length principle’ (October 2018)
WP1/2019, Chakraborty, L, Gandhi, P, ‘Impact of
intergovernmental scal transfers on gender equality in India: an
empirical analysis’ (January 2019)
WP2/2019, Breunig, R, Freestone, O, ‘Risk aversion among
Australian households’ (February 2019)
WP3/2019, Mughan, S, ‘When do municipal consolidations
reduce government expenditures? Evidence on the role of local
involvement’ (March 2019)
WP4/2019, Hoy, C, Toth, R, ‘Aligning preferences for
redistribution of right and left wing voters by correcting their
beliefs about inequality: Evidence from a randomized survey
experiment in Australia’ (March 2019)
WP5/2019, Tran, C, Zakariyya, N, ‘Tax progressivity in Australia:
Facts, measurements and estimates’ (March 2019)
WP6/2019, Ingles, D, ‘Taxing capital income and the Z-tax
solution’ (May 2019)
WP7/2019, Ingles, D ‘Improving cash ow corporate taxation
(CFCT) and the Z-tax (ZT) approach’ (June 2019)
TTPI policy briefs
PB1/2018, Stewart, M, ‘Personal income tax cuts and the new
Child Care Subsidy: Do they address high effective marginal tax
rates on women’s work?’ (August 2018)
PB2/2018, Wong, T, Stewart, M, ‘Budget transparency: The
Open Budget Survey 2017’ (September 2018)
PB1/2019, Wong, T, Stewart, M, ‘Assessing the quality of
government justications for company tax forecasts and
deviations in Australian budgets from 2013-2014 to 2017-2018’
(April 2019)
TTPI tax facts
Tax Fact #1: Principles of tax system design - August 2018
Tax Fact #2: Economic fundamentals: Deadweight loss - April
2019
Tax Fact #3: Good tax policy: Broadening the tax base and
lowering tax rates - April 2019
Tax Fact #4: Good tax policy: Taxing negative externalities -
April 2019
Tax Fact #5: Economic fundamentals: Randomised control trials
- April 2019
Tax Fact #6: Good tax policy: Tax offsets or tax deductions? -
April 2019
Tax Fact #7: Australia’s tax policy: Is the low income tax offset
(LITO) different to the tax-free threshold? - April 2019
Tax Fact #8: Good Tax Policy: Taxing Economic Rents - May
2019
Academic publications
Barr, N, Chapman, B, Dearden, L and Dynarski, S (2018) ‘The
US college loans system: Reform lessons from Australia and
England’, Economics of Education Review, doi: 10.1016/j.
econedurev.2018.07.007
Best, R, and Burke, Paul J (2019) ‘Fuel prices and road
accident outcomes in New Zealand’, New Zealand Economic
Papers 53(2), 109–124
Biddle, N, Fels, K and Sinning, M (2018) ‘Behavioral insights on
business taxation: Evidence from two natural eld experiments’,
Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance 18, 30-49
Blakelock, S and Stewart, M (2018) ‘Australia’s evolving general
anti-avoidance law’, in Tron, M (ed) The Structure of Anti-
Avoidance Rules Vol 100a Cahiers de droit scal international
(70th International Fiscal Association Congress, Sdu Fiscale &
Financiele Uitgevers: The Netherlands)
Breunig, R, Hasan, S and Hunter, B (2018) ‘Financial stress and
Indigenous Australians’, Economic Record, published in Early
View, pp. 1-24
Breunig, R, and McCarthy, O (2019), ‘Household
Telecommunications Expenditure in Australia’,
Telecommunications Policy, forthcoming
Breunig, R, Hasan, S and Whiteoak, K (2019) ‘Impact of
playgrounds on property prices: evidence from Australia’,
Landscape and Urban Planning, forthcoming
Breunig, R and Carter, A (2019) ‘Do earned income tax credits
for older workers prolong labor market participation and boost
earned income? Evidence from Australia’s Mature Age Worker
Tax Offset’, Economic Record, forthcoming
PUBLICATIONS
Annual Report 2017/2018
25
Breunig, R and Fabian, M (2019) ‘Long work hours and job
satisfaction: do over-workers get trapped in bad jobs?’, Social
Science Quarterly
Breunig, R, Hasan, S and Hunter, B (2019) ‘Financial stress and
Indigenous Australians’ Economic Record, Volume 95, Number
308, pp. 34-57
Breunig, R, Burris, S, Crofts, N, Herrington, A, Mcleod, A,
Middleton, J, Punch, M, Sherman, S, Sullivan, H, Thomson, N,
van Dyke, A (2019), ‘Redrawing the Thin Blue Line: Recognising
and Enhancing Joined up Solutions at the Intersection of Law
Enforcement and Public Health’, Lancet, forthcoming
Breunig, B, Crofts, H.V, Herrington, V, van Dijk, A, N et al
(2019) ‘Law enforcement and public health: recognition and
enhancement of joined-up solutions’, Lancet, The (UK edition),
vol. 393, no. 10168, pp. 287-294
Burke, Paul J and Teame, A (2018) ‘Fuel prices and road
deaths in Australia’, Economic Papers 37(2), 146–161
Burke, Paul J, Liao, H and Teng, M (2019) ‘The demand for
coal among China’s rural households: Estimates of price and
income elasticities’, Energy Economics 80, 928–936
Chapman, B and Doris, A (2018) ‘Modelling higher education
nancing reform for Ireland’, Economics of Education Review,
doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.06.002
Chapman, B, Wan, Q, and Yu, C (2018) ‘Repayment burdens
from mortgage-style student loans and towards an income
contingent loan for China’, Economics of Education Review,
doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2018.06.002
Chapman, B, Doan, D (2019) ‘Introduction to the special issue:
Higher education nancing: student loans’, Economics of
Education Review, doi: 10.1016/j.econedurev.2019.04.001
Chapman, B, Doan, D (2019) ‘Higher education nancing:
Student loans introduction’, Economics of Education Review,
Vol. 71, 2019
Chapman, B (2018) ‘It works in practice, but would it work
in theory’? Joseph Stiglitz’s contribution to our understanding
of income contingent loans’, in Martin Guzman (ed.) Towards
a Just Society: Joseph Stiglitz and Twenty-First Century
Economics, Columbia University Press, New York: ch 22
Chapman, B (2018) ‘The politics of HECS’, in P. Texiera and
J. Shin (eds.) Encyclopedia of International Higher Education
Systems and Institutions, Springer, Dordrecht
Chapman, B (2018) ‘The political economy of the higher
education contribution scheme’, (with Timothy Hicks) in B.
Cantwell, H. Coates, R. King (eds.) Handbook on the politics of
higher education, Edwards Elgar, Cheltenham: ch 14
Chapman, B (2018) ‘HECS: A hybrid model for higher-
education nancing’, in M. Fabian and R. Breunig (eds.), Hybrid
Public Policy Innovations: Contemporary Policy Beyond
Ideology, London, UK: Routledge: 119-133
Chapman, B (2019) ‘The international revolution in higher
education nancing: Concepts, research and policy’ (with
Lorraine Dearden and Dung Doan), in C. Callender, W. Locke
and S. Marginson (eds) The Future of Higher Education,
London: Bloomsbury
Davies, R and Stewart, M (2018) ‘The Gatekeeper Court: For
the Revenue or the Taxpayer?’ in James Stellios and Pauline
Ridge (eds), The Federal Court’s Contribution to Australian
Law: Past, Present and Future (Federation Press: Sydney) 213-
236
Hasan S, Sinning, M (2018) ‘GST reform in Australia:
Implications of estimating price elasticities of demand for food’,
The Economic Record 94, 239-254
Ingles, D, Philips, B and Stewart, M (2019) ‘From Guaranteed
Minimum Income to Basic Income: What might it look like?’
in Peter Saunders (ed) Revisiting Henderson: Poverty, social
security and basic income (Melbourne University Press) 377-
400
Ingles, D and Stewart, M (2018) ‘Australia’s company tax:
Options for scally sustainable reform’, Australian Tax Forum Vol
33 Issue 1, 101-139
Millane, E and Stewart, M (2019) ‘Behavioural Insights in Tax
Collection: Getting the legal settings right’ vol 16(3) eJournal of
Tax Research 500-535
Galasso, V, Mazur, M, Redonda, A, Stewart, M and Whittaker,
M (2019) T20 Policy Brief ‘Taxation in Aging Societies: Increasing
the Effectiveness and Fairness of Pension Systems’
Gray, M, Stanton, D, Qu, L and Weston, R (2019) ‘Fifty years of
changing families: Implications for income support’, Chapter 4,
pp. 67-88, in P. Saunders (Ed), Revisiting Henderson. Poverty,
Social Security and Basic Income, Melbourne University Press,
Carlton, Victoria
Regan, S, Stanton, D (2019) ‘The Henderson poverty inquiry in
context’, Chapter 3, pp. 47-66, in P. Saunders (Ed), Revisiting
Henderson. Poverty, Social Security and Basic Income,
Melbourne University Press, Carlton, Victoria
Stewart, M (2019) ‘Transparency, Tax and Human Rights: What
is the Purpose of Transparency?’, in Nikki Reisch and Philip
Alston (eds) Tax, Inequality and Human Rights (Oxford Uni
Press, New York), forthcoming
Heron, A, Whiteford, P (2018) ‘Non-standard workers in a
tax-nanced social protection system: The Case of Australia’ in
The Future of Social Protection: What works for non-standard
workers? OECD, Paris
Whiteford, P (2019) ‘Social Security since Henderson’, in P.
Saunders (Ed), Social Security Reform: Revisiting Henderson
and Basic Income, Melbourne University Press, Melbourne
Adema, W, Fron, P, Shin E, and Whiteford, P (2019) ‘Extending
coverage and the future of social protection in Asia and the
Pacic’, Chapter 2, Society at a Glance: Asia/Pacic 2019,
OECD Publishing, Paris
26 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Reports
Stewart, M, ‘New approaches to tax and welfare in Australia
and Korea’, workshop two in Seoul 7-8 September 2018,
funded by the Australia-Korea Foundation, DFAT.
International research engagement
TTPI faculty have numerous links and engaged to develop
research programs with a range of international academic and
government organisations in 2018-2019 including:
> National Institute for Public Finance, India
> Korea Institute of Public Finance, Korea
> University of Seoul, Department of Science in Taxation
> London School of Economics, United Kingdom
> University College London, United Kingdom
> University of Oxford, England
> Research with Impact (RWI) Essen, Germany
> Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) Bonn, Germany
> University of Wellington, Public Finance, Business School
> University of Indonesia
> International Fiscal Association, Japan branch
> Harvard Kennedy School
> Alcalá University, Spain
> National University of Singapore
> Padjadjaran University, Indonesia
> Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
> Peking University, China
> Indonesian Institute of Sciences
> Harvard University, Cambridge MA/USA
> Western University Law School, Ontario, Canada
> Papua New Guinea internal revenue commission
> International Budget Partnership, Washington, USA
> University of Chile
> University of Winsconsin-Madison, USA
> University of International Business and Economics, Beijing
> Jiangxi Agricultural University
> Central University of Finance and Economics, Beiging
> Asian and Australasian Society of Labour Economics
> Hefei University of Technology
Annual Report 2017/2018
27
TTPI engages with policy and service government agencies;
political representatives; community and business stakeholders;
the media and the broad public. TTPI aims, through these
activities to inform, enhance and inuence public knowledge and
debate about taxes and transfers.
The TTPI monthly newsletter has 1178 contacts, and of these
838 are subscribers. The newsletter is distributed in Australia
and around the world across government, business and
community sectors, informing them of new developments,
visitors, events and publications. The Austaxpolicy blog and
Twitter handle @Austaxpolicy experienced considerable growth,
and exposure in 2018-2019.
TTPI conducts many activities in partnership with other research
institutes at ANU, other universities, government departments
and other entities. This collaboration is central to TTPI’s ability to
inuence public policy.
Selected speeches and presentations
Robert Breunig
‘Taxpayer responsiveness to marginal tax rates: Bunching
evidence from the Australian personal income tax system’,
Australian Conference of Economists, Canberra, July 2018
‘Do earned income tax credits for older workers prolong labour
market participation and boost earned income? Evidence from
Australia’s Mature Age Worker Tax Offset’, Australian Conference
of Economists, Canberra, July 2018
‘Do earned income tax credits for older workers prolong labor
market participation and boost earned income? Evidence from
Australia’s Mature Age Worker Tax Offset’, Australia-Korea Tax
and Welfare Workshop, Seoul, September 2018
‘Priorities and challenges for tax reform in Australia’, Australia-
Korea Tax and Welfare Workshop, Seoul, September 2018
‘The political economy of tax’, Melbourne Institute Outlook
Conference, Melbourne, October 2018
‘Inequality, Poverty and Economic Growth’, Jiangxi Agricultural
University, Jiangxi, China, November 2018
‘Inequality, Poverty and Economic Growth’, Central University of
Finance and Economics, Beijing, China, November 2018
‘Inequality, Poverty and Economic Growth’, Hefei University of
Technology, Hefei, China, November 2018
‘Playgrounds and property prices’, Asian and Australasian
Society of Labour Economics (AASLE), Seoul, South Korea,
December 2018
‘Inequality, Poverty and Economic Growth’, Lee Kuan Yew
School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore,
April 2019
‘Tax Policy Keynote Presentation: Tax and the Economy–Policy
and Performance’, 2019 Barossa Convention, The Tax Institute,
Adelaide, South Australia, May 2019
Paul J Burke
‘Closures of coal-red power stations in Australia: Local
unemployment effects’, National Institute of Public Finance and
Policy, India, September 2018
‘Long-term lock-in of fossil fuels: the carbon pricing key’,
Nanyang Technological University, January 2019
‘Explaining spatial variation in small-scale solar uptake across
Australia’, National University of Singapore, January 2019
‘Overcoming barriers to solar and wind energy adoption in
Indonesia: Learnings from India’, University of Indonesia,
January 2019
‘Overcoming barriers to solar and wind energy adoption
in Indonesia: Learnings from India’, Padjadjaran University,
January 2019
‘Explaining spatial variation in small-scale solar uptake across
Australia’, Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), January 2019
Bruce Chapman
‘The economics and public policy of student loans: Lessons
for Vietnam’, ANU/Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences
conference, Higher education nancing: the need and potential
for reform in Vietnam, Hanoi, Vietnam, July 2018
‘Student loans issues for Chile’, at the government of Chile and
CBE (ANU) forum, Higher education nancing policy, Santiago,
Chile, October 2018
‘Higher education nancing international experience: Lessons
for Chile’, at the University of Chile and CBE (ANU) conference,
Student loan policy, Santiago, Chile, October 2018
‘The international student loans situation’, Australian embassy
policy series, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, March 2019
‘Student loans: An introduction’, at the IPEA/ANU conference
Income-contingent debt for higher education and beyond,
Brasilia, Brazil, July 2019
John Hewson
Ofcial Monetary and Financial Institution, Singapore, 17
July 2018
Australian Institute of Family Studies, Melbourne, 25 July 2018
Australia Centre for Economic Studies, University of Adelaide 8
August 2018
PricewaterhouseCoopers, Business event, Mornington, 6
September 2018
Launch Social Return Accounting, UNSW, 10 September 2018
EGN Business Breakfast, Sydney, 11 September 2018
Press Conference, Australia Institute, Parliament House
Canberra, 12 September 2018
General Services Administration (GSA) Economics brieng,
Sydney, 18 September 2018
ENGAGEMENT
28 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Festival of Dangerous Ideas, Sydney, 3 November 2018
Universities of Future, University of Sydney, 22 November 2018
Ernst & Young Business event, Sydney, 22 November 2018
TTPI Tax Summit, University of Sydney, 29 November 2018
Panel on Corporate Governance/Royal Commission, University
of Sydney, 11 December 2018
ANU Public Policy panel, Canberra 25 January 2019
ACOSS/UNSW poverty and inequality partnership, Sydney, 19
February 2019
Fair Trade panel and Chair, Sydney, 6 March 2019
DFAT/Indonesia Conference, Jakarta, 10-13 March 2019
FX Week, Sydney, 27 March 2019
ANU Leadership Program, Canberra, 28 March 2019
Riverside Business Chamber, Sydney, 1 April 2019
PricewaterhouseCoopers Budget Breakfast, Brisbane, 3
April 2019
PricewaterhouseCoopers Budget Panel, Sydney, 3 April 2019
Launch CEDA Budget Analysis, 5 April 2019
EGN Business Breakfast, Newcastle, 8 April 2019
EGN Business Breakfast, Wollongong, 14 May 2019
ANU, National Press Club Election Panel, Canberra, 14
May 2019
British High Commission, UK Financial Conduct Authority, 15
May 2019
ANU Crawford, Executive Program, Canberra, 24 May 2019
Sir Roland Wilson Foundation Post Election panel, Canberra, 18
June 2019
ANU Leadership Forum Breakfast, Chair, Superannuation,
Canberra, 24 June 2019
Future Shapers Dinner, Crawford ANU, 25 June 2019
Business Council of Co-operatives and Mutuals, Sydney, 26
June 2019
Chris Murphy
‘A Dynamic mini-CGETAX Model’, paper presented to the
2018 Australian Conference of Economists, Canberra, 10-13
July 2018
David Stanton
‘Social security inquiries in Australia: A review’; Foundation for
International Studies on Social Security (FISS) 26th International
Research conference on ‘Social security responses to national
and global challenges: Actions and impacts the future’, (co-
author S Regan), Sigtuna, Sweden, 11 June 2019
‘The ministerial task force on child support in Australia: An
example of evidence informed policy development’, Foundation
for International Studies on Social Security (FISS) 26th
International Research conference on ‘Social security responses
to national and global challenges: Actions and impacts the
future’, (co-author S Regan) Sigtuna, Sweden, 11 June 2019
‘Overview of the Australian social security system and
welfare conditionality’, International Symposium on Welfare
Conditionality, University of York, (co-author M Gray) 30
January 2019
Mathias Sinning
‘Nudging businesses to pay their taxes: Does timing matter?’
conference of the Association for Public Policy Analysis and
Management (APPAM), Washington, DC/USA, November 2018
‘Nudging businesses to pay their taxes: Does timing matter?’
seminar, La Folette School of Public Affairs, University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI/USA, November 2018
‘Nudging businesses to pay their taxes: Does timing matter?’
Asian and Australasian Society of Labour Economics (AASLE),
Seoul/South Korea, December 2018
‘Nudging businesses to pay their taxes: Does timing matter?’
seminar, University of International Business and Economics
(UIBE), Beijing/China, April 2019
Miranda Stewart
‘Tax in the tank’, tax and modelling panel, Australian Conference
of Economists, Canberra, 13 July 2018
‘A basic income for Australia? Rationale, design and cost’,
Treasury, Canberra, (co-authors David Ingles, Ben Phillips) 3
August 2018
‘Hybrid public policy’, book launch, Department of Prime
Minister and Cabinet, 12 July 2018
‘Basic income: Feasibility and cost’, Economists’ lunch, The
Australian National University, 3 August 2018
‘Childcare and effective marginal tax rates’, Department of Prime
Minister and Cabinet, Canberra, 9 August 2018
‘Behavioural insights, tax and public policy’, Behavioural
Economics and Public Policy conference, Crawford School of
Public Policy, The Australian National University, 10 August 2018
‘A basic income for Australia? Rationale, design and cost’,
Australia-Korea Foundation workshop, New approaches
to tax and welfare in Australia and Korea, Seoul, Korea, 8
September 2018
Annual Report 2017/2018
29
‘What is the purpose of tax transparency?’ International Fiscal
Association Japan branch, Tokyo, Japan, 11 September 2018
‘Gender, participation, care and work participation’, Economic
and social participation network, ESPrit workshop, University of
Melbourne, 9 October 2018
‘The political economy of tax’, Melbourne Institute/The Australian
Economic and Social Outlook conference, Melbourne, 12
October 2018
‘Policy roundtable and briengs’, with Professor Mariana
Mazzucato, CPD-Monash, Melbourne, 12 December 2018
‘Distribution between rich and poor countries’, IBFD knowledge
transfer seminar, International Bureau of Fiscal Documentation,
Amsterdam, The Netherlands 4 February 2019
‘How far does EU inuence in tax extend? The view from
Australia’, UC Louvain seminar series: The inuence of EU
economic law in the world? – How soft? How global? Brussels,
Belgium, 6 February 2019
Media and opinion
The TTPI Director, Chair and senior faculty played a signicant
role in public debate and engagement on a wide range of
budgetary, tax and transfer policy topics throughout the year.
Selected contributions to media, public debate and opinion from
TTPI academic faculty are listed below.
Selected media
‘Good times, bad times’ Inside Story, by Peter Whiteford, 5
July 2018
‘Are you a top earner in your city?’ Daily Telegraph, by Charis
Chang (Robert Breunig comments) 13 July 2018
‘Better budgeting: public participation is Australia’s ‘weakest
link’, The Mandarin, by David Donaldson (Teck Chi Wong and
Miranda Stewart comment) 2 October 2018
‘Relax. The divide between the taxed and the ‘taxed-nots’ isn’t
new and doesn’t buy elections’, The Conversation, by Peter
Whiteford, 2 October 2018
‘Researchers says wealth tax an incentive to work’, The
Australian, co-author Miranda Stewart, 11 October 2018
‘Have we lost our stomach for tax reform?’ The Sydney Morning
Herald, by Jessica Irvine (Miranda Stewart comments) 17
October 2018
‘FactCheck: is the Coalition spending ‘$1 billion extra, every
year’ on aged care?’, The Conversation, by Peter Whiteford, 22
October 2018
‘Traditional culture may help Indigenous households manage
money better’, The Conversation, by Robert Breunig and Boyd
Hunter, 31 October 2018
‘Tinkering can achieve a lot. Politics isn’t broken’, The
Conversation, by Emily Millane, 5 November 2018
‘Labor wants to name and shame dodgy phoenix directors’,
ABC News, by Nassim Khadem, (reference to Chris Leech’s
paper, TTPI secondee 2016-17) 7 November 2018
‘We need tax reform’, ANUreporter, by Robert Breunig and
Kristen Sobeck, Volume 49, November 2018
‘Why social policy counts’, Inside Story, by Peter Whiteford, 30
November 2018
‘It’s not just Newstart. Single patents are $271 per fortnight
worse off. Labor needs an overarching review’, The
Conversation, by David Stanton, Peter Whiteford, Ben
Phillips, Bruce Bradbury, Matthew Gray, and Miranda Stewart,
December 2018
‘New gures put it beyond doubt. When it comes to company
tax, we are a high-tax country, in part because it works well for
us’, The Conversation, by Miranda Stewart, 16 January 2019
‘OECD gets Australia’s effective corporate tax very wrong’, The
NEWDAILY, by Michael Pascoe (Miranda Stewart comments) 16
January 2019
‘A ‘Fresh Approach to Universal Credit’ – Are There Lessons
from Australia’? by Peter Whiteford, Australian National University
and Jane Millar, University of Bath., IPR Blog, 5 March 2019
‘Future budgets are going to have to spend more on welfare,
which is ne. It’s spending on us’, The Conversation, by Peter
Whiteford, 6 March 2019
‘The government is right - immigration helps us rather
than harms us’, The Conversation, by Robert Breunig, 20
March 2019
‘High-income Canberra leads nation on superannuation
balances’, The Canberra Times, by Doug Dingwall (Robert
Breunig comments) 30 March 2019
‘In it together: why receiving benets is far more common than
we think’ , Social Policy Association Blog, 50 for 50, No. 44, by
Peter Whiteford, 8 April 2019
‘The Coalition’s record on social policy: big on promises, short
on follow-through’, The Conversation, by Peter Whiteford, 9
April 2019
‘What will the Coalition be remembered for on tax? Tinkering,
blunders and lost opportunities’, The Conversation, by Robert
Breunig and Kristen Sobeck, 9 April 2019,
‘The joy of tax’, The Economists ABC, Peter Martin, Gigi Foster
and Robert Breunig, 18 April 2019
‘Tax cut will drive up effective tax rate for middle income earners,
analysis shows’, The Canberra Times, by Shane Wright (Steven
Hamilton, TTPI Research Afliate comments) 24 April 2019
‘Labor promises to raise childcare wages if elected’, ABC News
- The World Today with Sarah Whyte (comments by Jesita
McGowen, Sara Charlesworth and Robert Breunig) 29 April 2019
‘Expecting the Unexpected’, Inside Story, by Peter Whiteford,
30 April 2019
30 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Federal election 2019: Labor’s childcare proposal ‘a really big
deal for typical families’, says Grattan Institute, ABC News by
Emma Alberici (Miranda Stewart comments) 5 May 2019
‘Dissecting tax policies ahead of the election’, Radio National
Drive, with Patricia Karvelas Miranda Stewart comments, 9
May 2019
Federal Election 2019: Labor’s childcare wages pledge risks
being ‘a handout to big business’, ABC News by Madeleine
Morris (Robert Breunig comments) 13 May 2019
‘Why childcare is an election battleground’, ABC News 7.30
Report with Leigh Sales and reporter Madeleine Morris (Robert
Breunig comments) 14 May 2019
Federal Election 2019: Labor’s capital gains tax plan with have
‘bigger impact’ on house prices than negative gearing, ABC
News by Carrington Clarke (Miranda Stewart comments) 15
May 2019
‘Key challenges for the re-elected coalition government: our
experts respond’, The Conversation, by Corey JA Bradshaw,
Miranda Stewart, Peter Goss, Phillip O”Neill and Stephen
Duckett, 19 May 2019
‘Company tax reform could be ScoMo’s GST’, Australian
Financial Review, by Steven Hamilton, TTPI Research Afliate,
26 May 2019
‘A rising tide that hasn’t lifted all boats’, Inside Story, by Peter
Whiteford, 31 May 2019
‘A snapshot of life in the middle class’, The Canberra Times, by
Peter Whiteford, 8 June 2019
John Hewson
‘PBO predicts workers will take on a higher portion of tax’, ABC
Radio RN, Hamish McDonald speaks with John Hewson, 19
July 2018
‘It’s about doing the right thing’: Government will pursue
company tax cuts, 2GB radio, Ross Greenwood (John Hewson
interview) 30 July 2018
‘Rising household nancial stress requires urgent action’,
Newcastle Herald, 2 August 2018
Panel discussion, The Drum, ABC News, Peter Lewis, Christine
Forster, John Hewson, Shalailah Medhora, 14 September 2018
Panel discussion, The Drum, ABC News, Host: Kathryn
Robinson; Panel: Brooke Boney, Alan Kirkland, Amanda Rose
and John Hewson, 20 December 2018
‘Hewson’s view: The increased irrelevance of machine politics’,
Newcastle Herald, 31 January 2019
‘A sh rots from the head’: can banking’s culture problem be
xed? ANU College of Asia and the Pacic, 7 February 2019
‘We’re at a global debt precipice and our central banks are failing
us’, The Sydney Morning Herald, 15 March 2019
‘Self-absorbed’ government threatens the economy, Your
Money, interview with John Hewson, 27 March 2019
‘Frydenberg looks ridiculous as government gets into a pickle’,
The Sydney Morning Herald, 10 April 2019
‘John Hewson speaks to Rachel Pupazzoni’, ABC News, The
Business, 17 May 2019
‘Labor loss should not kill tax reform’, Australian Financial
Review, by John Kehoe (John Hewson comments) 19 May 2019
Podcast: ‘The Auspolicy issue - what the country voted for’,
panel: Liz Allen, Paul Burke, John Hewson, Warwick McKibbin,
Bob Cotton, Quentin Grafton, Asia and the Pacic Policy Society,
24 May 2019
‘There’s too much emphasis on economic growth’, Southern
Highland News, 6 June 2019
‘A recession may be inevitable – even desirable’, The Sydney
Morning Herald, 6 June 2019
‘I personally doubt they are affordable’: Former Liberal leader
sledges tax cuts, The Canberra Times, by Katie Burgess, John
Hewson comments,18 June 2019
‘Blowing in the wind: Australia’s China policy is all over the shop’,
The Sydney Morning Herald, 20 June 2019
Southern Highland News, Hewson’s View:
> A contrast between division and national unity’ 11 July 2018
> ‘Rising household nancial stress requires urgent action’ 2
August 2018
> ‘Is this the end of government by major parties?’ 25
October 2018
> ‘Can our PR PM accept economic reality?’ 6 December 2018
> ‘Political messes around the world’ 13 December 2018
> ‘Coalition forfeits right to govern without effective climate
action plan’ 28 February 2019
> ‘You can only spin the economy for so long’ 7 March 2019
> ‘In it for themselves, not the nation’ 14 March 2019
> ‘Election gambles’ 4 April 2019
> ‘An uninspiring election campaign’ 18 April 2019
> ‘The campaign is not resonating’ 25 April 2019
> ‘Our nation deserves better’ 2 May 2019
> ‘No surprise about waning condence’ 13 June 2019
Annual Report 2017/2018
31
Austaxpolicy.com blog and
@Austaxpolicy
To achieve our goal of informing and inuencing public
debate about new evidence, research and thinking about
tax and transfer policy, in December 2015 TTPI launched the
Austaxpolicy Blog at Austaxpolicy.com and accompanying
Twitter account, @Austaxpolicy. Austaxpolicy is edited by
Miranda Stewart, Mathias Sinning and Sonali Walpola, with
editorial support by Teck Chi Wong, Maria Sandoval Guzman
and interns. In April 2018, Austaxpolicy also extended its
presence to Facebook to reach a broader audience.
Austaxpolicy features insight and analysis from experts
of all disciplines writing on tax and welfare, budget policy,
intergovernmental nancial relations and public nance.
Austaxpolicy publishes blog articles from academic and policy
experts across a range of disciplines and topics in the eld,
including regular contributions from staff and fellows at TTPI. As
well as publishing leading Australian and international experts,
Austaxpolicy supports early career researchers and PhD
students by encouraging them to present their research to a
wider audience.
The year 2018-2019 is our third full year of operation for the
blog and it has been a year of considerable growth, exposure
and public value. During the year, we published 90 articles from
111 authors, including internationally well-known scholars such
as Alberto Alesina (Harvard), Peter Egger (ETH Zurich) and Jane
Millar (Bath) as well as Australian scholars such as John Taylor
(UNSW) and Helen Hodgson (Curtin).
The number of visitors increased by 57% to more than 30,000
and the number of page views increased 43.7% to almost
60,000. In particular, we saw a strong build up of trafc in the
months before the 2019 Australian federal election and May
was our best month ever with more than 7,000 page views
recorded. Our top article for the year is a three year old article
by TTPI’s own Research Fellow, Peter Varela, ‘Brief: Progressive
and regressive taxes’ (24 February 2016), which received 2,556
hits. For articles posted during the year, ‘Increase in Newstart
Allowance Long Overdue’, by TTPI Chair John Hewson
(published on 31 January 2017) is the most popular, receiving
741 page views.
While more than half of our readers were from Australia and
the United States, trafc from Asian countries has been
increasing at a faster rate. Malaysia is now the third largest
source by country, followed by India, the United Kingdom and
the Philippines. China also entered the top ten for the rst time,
now ranked at 8th. Sydney and Melbourne are the largest trafc
sources by city, while administrative capitals like Canberra,
Washington (US) and Quezon City (Philippines) also generated
considerable trafc.
In December 2017, Crawford School Director Professor
Helen Sullivan committed the School to gender balance in its
public events program. During the last year, 78 (70%) of our
contributors were men, while 33 (30%) were women. Our overall
statistics are a little better: of 89 substantive blog articles, nearly
half had at least one female author, although 48 (53.9%) had
only male authors. Our readership is pretty close to equal; men
(52%) were only slightly more likely to read Austaxpolicy than
women (48%). Austaxpolicy will actively seek to improve the
gender balance of contributions in future years.
Many of our readers access Austaxpolicy through Twitter and
Facebook. Our twitter handle, @Austaxpolicy, expanded our
following to 1,064 during the year and tweeted 1,292 times.
Our largest tweet impressions were achieved during November
2018, when we received 89,447 impressions. In total, we
recorded 761,047 tweet impressions during the year.
32 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
Top ten Austaxpolicy articles in 2018-2019
Hewson, J ‘Increase in Newstart Allowance Long Overdue’,
(741 page views) 31 January 2019
Breunig, R & Sobeck, K ‘Pay Disclosure: Information Is Power
for Employers and Empowers Employees’, (658 page views) 23
July 2018
Pawson, I ‘‘Crowding Out’ Evidence-Based Policy: The Case of
Negative Gearing’, (620 page views) 24 January 2019
Hoy, C ‘Coalition and Labor Voters Share Policy Priorities
When They Are Informed About Inequality’, (577 page views) 11
April 2018
Leigh, A ‘Tax Havens: The Little Islands That Are Costing You
Big Money’, (521 page views) 25 September 2018
Walpola, S & Ping, Y ‘Tax Offsets and Equity in the Scheme for
Taxing Resident Individuals’, (498 page views) 17 April 2019
Günther, S ‘Politics of Taxation in the Roman Empire’, (494
page views) 28 February 2019
Tran, C & Zakariyya, N ‘Tax Progressivity in Australia:
Things Aren’t as Simple as They Seem’, (473 page views) 28
March 2019
Breunig, R & Carter, A ‘Australia’s Mature Age Worker Tax
Offset: The Employment Effects and Fiscal Cost Consequences’,
(381 page views) 15 October 2018
Higheld, R ‘Mind the (Tax) Gap—It’s Bigger Than You Probably
Think!’, (348 page views) 5 February 2019
Facebook
TTPI’s Facebook page (@Austaxpolicy) has continued to
grow throughout the 2018-2019 period. The page published
373 posts, reaching 12,721 people. Peak periods of reader
engagement were noted during the Behavioural Economics
and Public Policy (TTPI-BEPP) conference held in August 2018,
and the April-May 2019 pre-federal budget and election period.
This activity was organically achieved without paid promotion,
and additionally in collaboration with the Crawford School’s
Facebook page (@CrawfordSchool). Promotion of TTPI’s various
events during 2018-2019 attracted 11,131 people to the page.
Annual Report 2017/2018
33
Staff, fellows and visitors associated with TTPI teach in a range
of graduate and executive education courses. Our aim in 2018-
2019 was to build on our existing high quality public nance
graduate and executive education courses to deliver the new
Public Finance specialisation in Crawford School’s Master of
Public Policy program, which will be unique in Australia and
the region. In addition, TTPI staff and fellows build advanced
research capacity in the eld by supervising a large number
of PhD students in diverse disciplines, researching topics on
public nance, tax and transfers. Our PhD students are listed in
our “People” section (p.8).
Master degree programs
The Crawford School of Public Policy delivers world-class
graduate degree programs in public policy, founded in
research-led teaching, adapted to changing demands from
public policy concerns and student needs, including the
agship Master of Public Administration, Public Policy, and
International and Development Economics. TTPI staff and
fellows offered public nance, tax and transfer courses in these
degree programs.
Our public nance students are drawn from federal, state
and territory governments in Australia and from departments
of nance in Indonesia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Bhutan
and Papua New Guinea as well as Latin America, Africa and
Europe. Selected courses relevant to the specialisation are
listed below. More information about the subjects available and
Master degrees is at
https://crawford.anu.edu.au/study/graduate-degrees.
Public Finance: Fiscal Policy, Globalization
and Development
POGO8048
Professor Miranda Stewart
This course is aimed at students who are interested in scal
policy including tax and expenditure law, and policy concerning
how to fund government effectively. It examines the key
challenges of scal policy in achieving sufcient revenues,
economic prosperity and development, and in addressing
social justice and inequality in a context of globalisation.
The course provides an introduction to public nance law and
policy; tax policy principles; and tax reform and law design
principles. We then examine several topical case studies of
particular scal systems and tax or expenditure reforms or
policies in Australia, the Asia-Pacic region and the world. The
subject takes a critical approach to examining the principles,
processes and outcomes of scal policy. Students do not need
to have a detailed knowledge of tax law or economics to do
this subject.
Social Policy Analysis
POGO8025
Professor Peter Whiteford
This course aims to provide both a macro view of welfare state
debates in Australia and internationally - including Asia and
the Pacic, as well as Europe and North America - and also
develop skills in undertaking quantitative analysis of selected
major policy issues such as the causes of the growth of public
spending, measures to control expenditure growth, and how to
analyse the effectiveness of welfare state spending, particularly in
relation to impacts on income distribution (inequality and income
poverty), as well as unintended consequences. Emphasis is on a
comparative approach.
Principles of Social Policy
POGO8084
Professor Peter Whiteford
This course aims to provide an introduction to the main
principles of social policy in a comparative context as a
foundation for further studies in the social policy area. It
discusses the parameters of social policy and how social
policy intersects with other aspects of government policy, such
as labour policy, taxation policy and health policy. It analyses
varying models of social welfare provision and social protection
as well as fundamental policy issues, such as the merits of
targeting versus universality, horizontal versus vertical equity,
and rights-based versus discretionary entitlements. The course
then considers social protection in the context of key groups
of potential beneciaries, including the unemployed, children
and families, retirees, and the Indigenous. Emphasis is on a
comparative approach, comparing Australian social policy with
that of other OECD countries and of other countries in the Asia
and Pacic region.
Economics for Government
POGO8081
Professor Robert Breunig
This subject seeks to provide a policy ofcer’s or public
sector manager’s guide to basic economic principles and
their application to public sector activities. To achieve this, the
subject will:
> emphasise the nature of decision making by individuals,
rms and governments and their effect on the allocation of
resources. The idea of the efciency of resource allocation
will be emphasised and developed. This will be achieved by
providing concrete examples and applications.
> ensure participants understand the nature and role of
markets. This is done by providing an overview of basic
economic principles. This will take the form of introduction
to the basic language, methods, concepts and frameworks
that underpin economic reasoning and logic. This will mostly
cover supply and demand of markets (microeconomics),
though we will also touch on measurement, growth and
operation of the aggregate economy (macroeconomics).
EDUCATION
34 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
> ensure participants understand the economic role of
government. This will be achieved by providing a framework
for understanding both the strengths and limits of markets as
a form of social organisation and for identifying the precise
nature of market failure, the objectives of public policy and
the form of intervention, including via regulation, service
provision, and redistribution.
> understand the nature of the economic way of thinking,
through developing frameworks for determining the relative
roles of market and state. This will be done by way of
providing particular economic problems as illustrations and
by conveying the nature of the tool-kit that the economic
profession brings to examination of issues, both economic
and beyond economics.
Public Sector Ethics
POGO8021
Emeritus Professor Richard Mulgan
How can public leaders exercise ethical leadership, and how
can we promote clean government, given the many excuses
for ‘dirty hands’ made by government leaders? This course
provides students with an introduction to debates over public
sector ethics, focusing on the roles and responsibilities of public
servants and their relationships to politicians and others sharing
public power. The unit uses practical examples and case studies
of ethical problems from across the public sector, blending
Australian and international material so that students can learn
from a variety of policy frameworks appropriate to the regulation
of public conduct. Students will examine core theories of ethics
with the aim of relating these to prevailing theories of public
policy and practices of public administration. They will also
examine various approaches to codifying and enforcing public
sector ethics.
Public Sector Management
POGO8062
Emeritus Professor Richard Mulgan
The course takes a comparative and thematic approach
to issues in public sector management, and encourages
students to consider their relevance to their own countries and
workplaces. The course gives particular emphasis to issues of
public sector reform and draws on leading-edge research by
academic staff at the Crawford School
The Economic Way of Thinking 1
POGO8016
Dr Shiro Armstrong
Microeconomics examines how consumers and rms make
decisions under conditions of scarcity and how they interact
with each other in markets. It also examines the effects of
government policy and actions on market outcomes. The
economic way of thinking provides a decision-making framework
for individuals, corporate managers, and policy-makers. This
course aims to provide students with a solid understanding
of basic microeconomic principles and the ability to apply
those tools and ideas. Topics include comparative advantage,
consumer and rm decision-making, supply and demand,
market structure, international trade, and market failure.
Participating in Public Policy
POGO8136
Professor Carolyn Hendriks
One of the central challenges in public policy is understanding
and responding to the needs and interests of diverse publics.
This course explores how governments and citizens tackle
this challenge. Taught in an interactive mode, students in this
course consider questions, such as: How do policy makers
engage citizens in the policy process? How do citizens
themselves seek to voice their concerns and exert inuence on
the policy process? What happens when their interests are mis-
represented, misunderstood or ignored? What does meaningful
citizen participation look like in an era of 24/7 news cycles and
social media? In focusing on ‘public’ aspects of public policy,
this course engages students in various democratic issues that
surface in the public policy process. Through applied examples
and case studies, students reect on how democratic ideals,
such as inclusion, participation, representation and legitimacy
may be realised in contemporary governance. Practical attempts
at participatory policy making will be examined and critiqued,
including deliberative forums, community meetings, petitions,
online engagement and social media.
Foundations in Public Policy
POGO8401
Sue Regan
This course introduces students to the fundamentals of
contemporary public policy making. Students will explore core
debates in policy studies and consider concepts, models and
tools for making, implementing and evaluating public policy. To
provide a deeper understanding of the policy process, students
will be introduced to analytical perspectives on various stages of
the policy process with the aim of provoking critical inquiry into
policy practices and outcomes. Students will consider the variety
of policy actors and networks in the policy process, and reect
on how competing values and interests inuence what issues
get policy attention, how they shape decisions, outcomes and
evaluation procedures. Students will also debate the different
approaches to policy decision making (incrementalism or rational
approaches), the implications of governance arrangements
between state and non-state actors, and the internationalisation
and globalisation of public policy.
Organisational Finance and Budgeting
POGO8080
Emeritus Professor Keith Houghton
The course provides a user perspective on the role of nancial
reporting and analysis of organisations in a public sector
context and budgeting with such organisations. Through a
series of seminars, case studies and exercises, you will acquire
condence in using the concepts and vocabulary of accounting
Annual Report 2017/2018
35
and nance, and an ability to analyse organisational performance
and resource allocation. You will become familiar with the format
and use of nancial statements and the role of accounting in
making decisions
Policy Advocacy
POGO8083
Dr Amanda Smullen
Policy Advocacy is a graduate course in policy communication,
requiring no specialist knowledge or experience of public policy
or administration. The course examines strategies and tactics
used by policy advocates inside and outside government when
marshalling argument and evidence to promote their preferred
outcomes. The course is designed to strengthen students’
understanding of the nature of advocacy and of place of policy
advocacy in the policy process. The course materials draw
on many disciplines: rhetoric, philosophy, policy analysis and
public administration. Examples include many Australian,
as well as international and transnational cases, but the aim
is more general: to stimulate learning about the many ways
that policy advocacy is pursued and seeks to shape policy
choice, especially in political systems with open forms of
deliberative democracy.
Microeconomic Analysis and Policy
IDEC8016
Dr Xue Sarah Dong
Microeconomic Analysis and Policy is a Masters course in
modern microeconomic theory. The course covers consumption
theory, production theory, theories of the competitive market,
general equilibrium theory, and externalities and public goods.
Principles will be applied to important policy areas such
as tax policy, the role of government, and management of
the environment.
Empirical Public Finance
IDEC8025
Associate Professor Mathias Sinning
This course is an introduction to the economic analysis of
incentives generated by tax systems and income transfer
programs. The emphasis is on understanding how, and the
extent to which, individuals and rms react to those policies -
the central question addressed in the growing eld of empirical
public nance. The discussion on key design elements of
those policies are expected to foster students’ understanding
of important trade-offs involved in implementing government
policies. It covers the following topics: tax incidence, efciency
and optimal taxation, income taxation and labour supply, taxes
on consumption, taxes on savings, taxes on investment and
corporate taxation. Examples are drawn from taxes and income
transfer programs implemented in Australia and internationally.
Particular attention will be paid to the application of quasi-
experimental methods to public nance. By reading articles that
apply quasi-experiments for each topic, students are expected
to develop a practical understanding of issues involved in taking
econometric models to the real world. Students will be exposed
to varieties of estimation techniques.
Managing Government Finances
POGO8057
Professor John Wanna
The course aims to give students a basis for considering the
environment in which public sector managers operate as it bears
on their management of public nancial resources. The course
investigates the roles carried out by managers in government
agencies in managing public nancial resources, and the political
and administrative setting in which government nances are
managed. It steers between:
> the methodologies of nancial decision-making and analysis
> description or analysis of the Australian government system,
and
> development in public sector nancial management theory
and practice.
Executive education and
other teaching
Staff and fellows of TTPI have contributed to popular one and
two-day Executive Education courses delivered in-house to
government departments and agencies and in the leading
Executive Education program at Crawford School, as well as
presentations and lectures in various forums.
Robert Breunig
‘Beginner’s guide to macroeconomics for the public sector’,
Crawford School of Public Policy Executive Education
(July 2018)
‘Getting started: Analyzing HILDA with R’, Australian Treasury,
(August 2018)
‘Getting started: Analyzing HILDA with STATA’, Melbourne
Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research
(September 2018)
‘Beginner’s guide to macroeconomics for the public sector’,
special course for the Department of Industry (August 2018)
‘Beginner’s guide to microeconomics for the public sector’,
special course for the Department of Industry (September 2018)
‘Introduction to Panel Data Analysis’, with the Melbourne
Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, Melbourne
(September 2018)
‘Introduction to Economics’, course delivered for the
Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
(October 2018)
‘Economic Literacy for Non-Economists’, course delivered for
the Commonwealth Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade,
(four courses, October - November 2018)
‘Economic Literacy for Non-Economists’, course delivered
for the Ofce for Women in Department of Prime Minister and
Cabinet, co-presenter Kristen Sobeck (December 2018)
36 Tax and Transfer Policy Institute, Crawford School of Public Policy ANU
‘Introduction to the economics of tax policy’, Executive
Education Program, Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU (6-7
March 2019)
‘Introduction to Economics’, course delivered for the
Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
(April 2019)
‘Getting started: Analyzing HILDA with STATA’, Melbourne
Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, Canberra
(April 2019)
‘Essentials of Economic Thinking and Economic Development’,
course delivered for the Regional Network, Indigenous Affairs
Group of the Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and
Cabinet (April - May 2019)
‘Economic growth’, Executive Education Program, Crawford
School of Public Policy, ANU co-presenter Omer Majeed
(May 2019)
‘Introduction to Economics’, Course delivered for the
Commonwealth Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
(June 2019)
Michael Kobetsky
‘Tax treaties and Transfer pricing’, Western University Law
School, Ontario, Canada, (January 2019)
Mathias Sinning
Institute for Quantitative Social Sciences (IQSS), Harvard
University, Cambridge, MA/USA, March 2019 (1 Week)
‘Behavioural Economics: concepts, tools and applications’,
Executive Education Program, Crawford School of Public Policy,
ANU, co presenter Uwe Dulleck (8-9 May 2019)
‘Policy evaluation’, Executive Education Program, Crawford
School of Public Policy, ANU (8 May 2019)
Miranda Stewart
‘Gender analysis of public policy’, Executive Education Program,
Crawford School of Public Policy, ANU, co-presenter Maria
Sandoval Guzman (30 April 2019)
Page 1 of 1
Fund No:
S5335501
Project:
Donor Ref:
Chief Investigator:
Robert Breunig
STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
For the Period 01 July, 2018 to 30 June, 2019
Current Period
$
Unspent Balance as at 01 July, 2018
111.99
Add
Income from Contracts
34,031.64
Income from Executive Education
217.20
Transfer from TTPI investment account 315,190.67
Internal income support from ANU VC 279,000.00
Total Income 628,439.51
Total Available Funds Before Expenditure
$628,551.50
Less
Salaries & Related Costs 493,621.93
Equipment - Non-Capital 2,145.72
Utilities & Maintenance
121.64
Travel Field & Survey Expenses
27,268.18
Consultancies 35,550.00
Consumables 2,732.81
Internal Purchases 995.86
Other Expenses 11,458.65
Total Expenditure 573,894.79
Unspent Balance as at 30 June, 2019
$54,656.71
ANU/Crawford cash and inkind contribution
$1,896,431.84
I certify that the above statement accurately summarises the financial records of the grant and that these
records have been properly maintained so as to record accurately the Income and Expenditure of the grant.
Helen Sullivan
Director
Crawford School of Public Policy
DoT - Establishment of the Tax and Transfer Policy Institute
Fund No:
D5335501
Project:
Donor Ref:
Chief Investigator:
STATEMENT OF INCOME AND EXPENDITURE
For the Period 01 July, 2018 to 30 June, 2019
Current Period
$
Unspent Balance as at 01 July, 2018
2,376,181.23
Add
Crawford School Contribution 132,056.30
ANU Contribution 700,000.00
Investment Income 102,455.67
Total Income 934,511.97
Total Available Funds Before Expenditure
$3,310,693.20
Less
Salaries & Related Costs 0.00
Transfer to Long Term Investement Pool 3,000,000.00
Transfers to operation account S5335501 304,318.46
Total Expenditure 3,304,318.46
Unspent Balance as at 30 June, 2019
$6,374.74
Tax Transfer Policy Institute
Page 1 of 1
Annual Report 2017/2018
37
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CONTACT US
Tax and Transfer Policy Institute
JG Crawford Building #132
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 2601
Australia
T +61 2 61259318
W taxpolicy.crawford.anu.edu.au
CRICOS Provider #00120C
