Writing in today’s AFR, tax partner Shaun Cartoon reflects on how far we’ve come in Australia, and how much needs to be done to realise the potential of employee share schemes.
As we approach the 10th anniversary of Australia’s employee share scheme tax reforms, Shaun says that new pressures impacting the domestic and global economy require the government to lean in to, rather than step back from, further policy improvement.
Shaun points to the recent Global Equity Organisation survey which ranked us 13th in the world — behind most developed European Union nations where ESS is part of mainstream economic infrastructure. While we continue to lead the Asia-Pacific region, our global competitiveness in this space remains lacklustre.
“That’s not good enough — especially now,” he argues. “The government should seize the opportunity to build on the last decade of progress.”
The article poses three “big ideas” to start the next chapter, on the basis that ESS isn’t just a tax incentive — it’s an economic strategy and should be treated it like one.
