Tax receipts ‘not strong enough’ to cover government’s full spending plan

KPMG Chief Economist Brendan Rynne says tax receipts from high employment and stable commodity prices “won’t be strong enough” to cover the government’s full spending plan for the medium term. Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday morning said we can expect a surplus of $9.3 billion, but the deficits will blow out in the coming years, due to what he calls, “unavoidable spending.” “We’ve had a forecast budget deficit in terms of a structural budget balance for a long time, and it’s now just catching up with us,” Mr Rynne told Sky News Australia. “What we are seeing is that some of the revenue benefits that we’ve got from very high employment, strong commodity prices are starting to run out of steam. “And so those tax receipts won’t be strong enough to be able to cover the full spending that the government plans over the medium term.”