Fed: Gov't considering overhaul of film tax rules

AAP General News (Australia)
08-13-2001
Fed: Gov't considering overhaul of film tax rules

CANBERRA, Aug 13 AAP - The federal government is considering an overhaul of tax laws
to keep Australia's billion-dollar film industry alive.

New South Wales Premier Bob Carr has written to Prime Minister John Howard, warning
the industry was in danger of collapse following a crackdown on taxation concessions for
the multi-million dollar productions Moulin Rouge and Red Planet.

But Mr Howard said yesterday his office already had pledged to review the matter with
the Australian Taxation Office.

"I think the best way for premiers to behave on issues like this is to cooperate with
the federal government and not to run Sunday newspaper stunts on us," he told reporters.

But Labor arts spokesman Bob McMullan said both the Queensland and Victorian state
government had previously written to Mr Howard on the issue only to be met with studied
inactivity.

"I call on John Howard to clean up this mess by creating arrangements for the Australian
film industry that are clear and predictable before jobs and investment are lost," he
said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Kim Beazley yesterday sought to blunt coalition claims
a switch to Labor in the upcoming federal election would saddle voters with a high-taxing,
high-spending government.

With tax looming as the central poll battlefield, Mr Beazley pledged a Labor government
would not ramp up taxes to pay for its GST rollback.

Instead, the ALP would slow the pace of planned reforms to social services such as
education and health and aged care, he said.

But Treasurer Peter Costello said Mr Beazley was like a rolling stone on taxation,
moving backwards and forwards with no clear direction.

AAP rft/md/sbf

KEYWORD: TAX DAYLEAD

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