‘Tax cuts doomed’: company directors head

About Life Shopping 4The head of the institute overseeing company directors believes the Turnbull government’s tax cuts for big business won’t get the support needed.

Asked about the merits of the Business Council of Australia’s planned campaign for company tax cuts, Australian Institute of Company Directors chair Elizabeth Proust told ABC radio: “I think it is highly likely to be unsuccessful.”

Ms Proust on Wednesday said the focus on company tax reductions alone has been misguided, and the institute would like to see broader tax reform instead.

Labor has ramped up its opposition to the government’s plan, using revelations of misconduct by banks to mount a case against corporate tax cuts.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten wants Treasurer Scott Morrison to rule out “golden handshakes” for executives after the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority slammed the Commonwealth Bank in a scathing report.

He also warned against giving the banks a tax cut as a reward.

“If Mr Morrison is so worried about the conduct of Commonwealth Bank directors, why is he proposing to give them upwards of $4 billion in corporate tax cuts over the next 10 years?” Mr Shorten told reporters in Sydney on Wednesday.

But cabinet minister Michaelia Cash said using the actions of the banks to argue against business tax cuts conflated two separate issues.

“The banks are a fundamental part of our economy. What you don’t want to do is start picking and choosing winners and losers in the tax system,” Senator Cash told reporters in Canberra.

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