Treasurer Joe Hockey insists there are no plans to raise the GST. Source: News Corp Australia

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development — a top policy think tank funded by 34 developed countries — this week repeated its call to cut personal and corporate tax rates while increasing consumption and land taxes.

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The government is preparing a white paper on reforming the tax system, including the GST, although any change would need to be agreed by every state and territory government.

Mr Hockey denied a GST change was “on the cards”, saying the OECD were “not looking at the full picture”.

“If you increase the GST, you need to compensate middle and low-income Australians with significant tax cuts. We haven’t got the financial capacity to do that at the moment,” the Treasurer told the Seven network.

“Also, I don’t think it is the right time at all to increase prices for Australians. I think they have got enough pressure on family budgets as it stands. Therefore, we should not be increasing the GST.

“We said we have no plans and we will not be increasing the GST and if we are — if we were to change that, we would take it to an election.”

Mr Hockey has been urging households to continue spending for Christmas amid federal spending cuts, depressed consumer confidence and rising unemployment.

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten yesterday accused the government of pushing GST reform through “the back door” by “blackmailing and starving states of funds”.

“If Tony Abbott and Joe Hockey were fair dinkum about people getting to pay their fair share of tax, stop taxing the poor, stop cutting homeless services, stop cutting the pension,” Mr Shorten said.