Page 4153 - Week 09 - Thursday, 26 August 2010

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video


(2) What is the breakdown of payroll tax paid by each sector of the ACT economy.

(3) What is the growth rate of each sector of the ACT economy in (a) 2009-2010 to date and (b) each of the last four financial years.

(4) What is the estimated growth rate of each sector of the ACT economy in (a) 2010-2011 and (b) each of the three next financial years.

(5) How much payroll tax is paid by any entities listed in the A-Z List of Australian Government Departments and Agencies available at www.directory.gov.au.

(6) What economic parameters does Treasury consider when determining payroll tax estimates and what weight is given to each.

(7) Can the Treasurer provide specific information for the payroll tax estimate referred to in part (6) for 2010-2011.

Ms Gallagher: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:

(1) (a) The payroll tax and employment growth rates in the outyears reflects long-run average rates of 7 per cent and 1.75 per cent respectively.

(b) The statement that Mr Broughton made on 31 May 2010 was just an example to illustrate a relationship between the employment growth rate and the payroll tax growth rate. As Mr Broughton went on to explain employment growth is only one of many factors that will impact on payroll tax growth in the forecast years 2009-10 and 2010-11.

(2) Treasury does not have a full and complete dataset available to distinguish the different sectors within the ACT economy for payroll tax clients. On this basis an answer cannot be provided.

(3) The information is publicly available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics website at http://www.abs.gov.au. Information for 2009-10, however, is not yet available.

(4) (a) Treasury forecasts economic growth on an aggregate basis. Treasury does not estimate the economic performance of each sector of the ACT economy due to the extremely volatile performance of some sectors and the unreliability of data at sectoral level.

(b) See the answer to (4) (a).

(5) The aggregate of payroll tax paid by entities listed in the Australian Government website www.directory.gov.au in 2008-09 was approximately $7.7 million.

(6) It has been the long standing policy of Treasury and the ACT government not to disclose forecasting methodology. This is consistent with practice in other Australian jurisdictions. Disclosing forecasting methodology could have a substantial adverse effect on the ability of government to manage the economy.

(7) See the answer to (6).


Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video