Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) has made a submission to the Senate Economics Legislation Committee inquiry into Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 2) Bill 2026 (the Bill).

CA ANZ welcomes the reintroduction of the tax loss carry back provisions on a permanent basis. Since 2021, CA ANZ has called for the tax loss carry back rules to be a permanent feature of the income tax law. These rules help build business resilience during future economic downturns and provide support for expanding businesses.

CA ANZ also supports the permanent uplift of the instant asset tax write-off threshold. Small businesses need simple and certain tax rules to make confident investment decisions. Making the $20,000 instant asset write-off threshold permanent and deferring the five-year ‘lock-out’ rule until after 30 June 2027, will help small businesses invest and grow.

Key recommendations include:

• Make it clear in the legislation and Explanatory Memorandum that tax losses carried back but unused due to the franking account balance limiting the amount of the tax offset, are lost and cannot be carried forward
• Clarify that the integrity measures do not apply simply because an entity makes an election to claim a loss carry back tax offset.