CA ANZ's opening statement to the Economics Legislation Committee on Treasury Laws Amendment (Tax Reform No. 3) Bill 2026 and Income Tax Rates Amendment (Minimum Tax on Discretionary Trusts) Bill 2026, delivered by CA ANZ Group Executive Advocacy, Public and Government Affairs, Damian Ogden. 

Good morning Chair and members of the Committee, thank you for the opportunity to appear again. My name is Damian Ogden, and I am the Group Executive Advocacy, International and Government Affairs at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. I am joined by my colleague, Susan Franks, CA ANZ’s Australian Tax, Superannuation and Financial Services Leader.

CA ANZ represents nearly 143,000 financial professionals, supporting them to build value and make a difference to the businesses, organisations and communities in which they work and live.

Our members play a critical role in the economy — supporting individuals, small businesses and large organisations to understand and comply with Australia’s tax system, and to make informed decisions based on that advice.

Independent research by Oxford Economics Australia, commissioned by CA ANZ and launched by the Treasurer in September, found that the accounting profession contributes $82.4 billion annually to Australia's economy, supports more than 365,000 jobs and underpins financial reporting, taxation, governance and regulatory compliance across every sector.

We support the objective of addressing inappropriate income splitting through discretionary trusts. We also welcome the CGT amendments that address many concerns raised in our earlier submissions.  However, we have a range of concerns with the legislation as drafted.

Our first concern is that a minimum tax should not result in double taxation. The proposed rules can deny recognition of tax already paid by the trustee where income passes to corporate beneficiaries or through fixed trust beneficiaries.

Second, taxpayers need certainty before making long-term decisions. Too many key rules are left to later ministerial instruments rather than set out in the Bill itself. In addition, how the Minimum tax interacts with residency, CGT, and international tax is still to be drafted. Without that detail, taxpayers cannot work out how they are affected or what they need to do.

Our third concern is that implementation must be realistic. Passing legislation is only the beginning. The ATO cannot finalise its guidance until the law is enacted, and advisers and taxpayers then need time to assess their options and plan. This comes on top of anti-money laundering reforms, Payday Super and the CGT changes starting on 1 July 2027. Taxpayers will need time to act once the final rules and ATO guidance are available.

Fourth, restructuring relief must work in practice. Taxpayers who restructure in response to these reforms need confidence that doing so will not trigger unexpected GST liabilities, so specific GST relief is needed. Restructuring is expensive. This cost arises because the law is changing, not because of a commercial choice, yet many expenses will be capital in nature and either not deductible or only deductible over five years. Given the compressed consultation timeframes and swift development of these reforms, we recommend a statutory review of the trust and CGT provisions.

Senators, we ask the Committee to support no double taxation, certainty in the primary law, realistic implementation timeframes, and workable restructuring relief backed by a statutory review.

We stand ready to work constructively with the Parliament so these reforms achieve their intended purpose without unnecessary complexity or unintended consequences. Thank you.