This presentation examines Australia’s Mature Age Worker Tax offset (MAWTO), a targeted earned income tax credit of up to $500 to incentivise participation of older workers that existed from 2004-05 to 2014-15. Using a difference-in-differences approach, the authors find that MAWTO increased labor market participation by around 0.5 percentage points. For women only, it had a small impact on earnings of about 1.5 per cent. They estimate that the average cost for each person induced to work longer is between $37,000 and $78,000.

Andrew Carter is an Assistant Director in Tax Policy Research at the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). He has previously held tax and macroeconomic related roles at the World Bank and the Department of Treasury. Andrew is currently a part-time PhD candidate at the Crawford School in Economics. His research is examining responses to the income tax and superannuation systems. At the TTPI, Andrew will examine the degree specific superannuation incentives prolong labour market participation and boost income and savings for workers approaching retirement.

A light lunch will be available from 12 - 12.15pm, please register at the registration tab above.