Australia should not scrap a controversial scheme that offers cash rebates to some Australian shareholders at tax time, according to a controversial parliamentary inquiry.
But federal Labor, which plans to do just that if it wins the next election, says the inquiry has been nothing but a farce.
Economics committee members held public hearings across the country to examine Labor's proposal to ditch cash refunds for "excess" franking credits, which would affect about eight per cent of Australians.
The credits are given to people whose share dividends have already been subjected to company tax and can be used to reduce an individual's basic tax liability, so they aren't taxed twice for the funds.
They can also be paid as a cash refund when someone's total credits exceed the tax they owe.
The measure costs the federal budget about $5 billion a year and is deemed by Labor to be "unfair revenue leakage".
But handing down the inquiry's report on Thursday, committee chair Tim Wilson said the process showed just how many self-funded retirees are depending on the refunds to get by.
"Those who have made their voice heard put worrying stories to the inquiry," he told parliament.
"A government that seeks to steal the overpaid tax of Australians does not deserve office."
Labor MP Matt Thistlethwaite, the committee's deputy chair, has long called the inquiry's credibility into question and continued to do so.
"This inquiry has been a farce from the outset," he said.
He argued that roughly a thousand submissions were made through a pre-filled form on Mr Wilson's website.
The inquiry was unusual for investigating an opposition policy and not scheduling many formal witnesses.
It typically opted instead to give members of the public three minutes each to speak at "town hall" style meetings.
Labor's shadow treasurer Chris Bowen on Thursday ruled out making any changes to the opposition's policy to ditch franking credit refunds.
