The Honourable the Speaker and Members of the House of Representatives in Parliament assembled: The humble Petition of certain citizens of Australia respectfully showeth our concern that:

1. The Income Tax Assessment Act (the Act) and its administration is inadequate in providing retirement benefits for employees in private enterprise;

2. The Commissioner of Taxation (Commissioner) denies deductions necessary to index retirement pensions;

3. Deductions for the self-employed and employed are inadequate;

4. The Commissioner has exercised his discretion improperly by negating a choice the Act allows on investment in Government Securities;

5. The Commissioner's constant alterations to guidelines and lack of communication has created great uncertainty.

6. The Commissioner is acting arbitrarily, and without proper notice in restricting trustee's investments with employers;

7. The Commissioner seeks to apply new actuarial guidelines retrospectively to July 1981.

Your Petitioners humbly pray that the House of Representatives, in Parliament assembled, take action to remedy these inadequacies and in particular we pray that action be taken:

(i) To ensure that the Commissioner exercises his discretion only with proper regard to legal principles;

(ii) To ensure that the Commissioner does not delegate to auditors part of his function of administering the Act;

(iii) To enact legislation allowing proper levels of retirement benefits to be provided;

(iv) To ensure that retirement benefits are regulated by a Department with a primarily social welfare function.

And your Petitioners, as in duty bound will ever pray.