KEY POINTS:
The Government has outlined how the targeted tax credits being examined as part of its Business Tax Review might apply to research and development, export-market development and skills training.
The review, released in July, identified a number of options for altering the business-tax regime in order to boost productivity and international competitiveness - especially relative to Australia - including lower company tax-rates, streamlined compliance and tax credits.
Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne yesterday released three discussion papers looking at the design details of the tax-credit plan.
The effectiveness of the credits would depend on how accurately relevant activities were defined and how efficiently they could be administered.
"We are hopeful that feedback on these technical issues will guide our decision on whether to include them in the final package," the ministers said.
Submissions close December 1.
The challenge is "to develop a tax credit that is sufficiently broad to capture expenditure that generates wider benefits, but is sufficiently precise to be clear and workable".
