Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has indicated he is keen to undertake a major reform of Australia's tax system.
Mr Rudd says the system is too complex and has criticised the former Coalition government for not making changes.
"For the 11 years or 12 years that the Howard Government was in office, the opportunity for a top-down review of the entire taxation system was there," he said.
Tax reform was one of the issues raised with Mr Rudd at his 2020 summit at the weekend and he has told ABC TV's 7:30 Report that the Federal Government will respond by the end of the year.
"I actually think we are getting to that time when we need to have a top-down look," he said.
"I won't commit to the next two years ... but I think it's actually time we looked at a root and branch reform of the Australian taxation system.
"But we will come back formally on that later in the year."
Welcomed stance
Economist Chris Richardson from Access Economics has welcomed Mr Rudd's stance.
"We can do better on tax in Australia, mostly in and around state taxes," he said.
"Many of them are not good and we can do better there.
"There are a bunch of state taxes which are just out and out evil. They almost destroy as much value in the economy as they raise in terms of revenue.
"The other thing too though is we still have a very big gap between our top rates of personal tax in Australia and our company tax rate and our capital gain tax rate."
Despite his support for reform, Mr Rudd will not contemplate major changes for at least two years.
-abc.net.au
