Govt should take GST to election: Shorten

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten says if the government wants to raise the GST they should take it to an election.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has called for an increase in the tax, but Mr Shorten said Prime Minister Tony Abbott's government had "missed an opportunity in its mini budget to get this country back on track".

"If Tony Abbott wants to increase the GST he should take it to an election," he told reporters on Wednesday.

Mr Shorten said he was more concerned about the damning report from the Paris-based organisation about the failure to chase large multi-national companies that are not paying their fair share of tax.

"The government's just given up," he said.

"If Tony Abbott and (Treasurer) 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.

"They've said it's too hard to collect money off rich, powerful companies."

Mr Shorten was speaking as he visited a Salvation Army cafe in Melbourne's CBD, where he donned an apron to serve coffee and chatted to people.

He praised the work of people who gave up their time to volunteer at Christmas.

"Here we've got literally thousands of volunteers, hundreds of people working to raise money to help get people back up on their feet," he said.

"Christmas can be a very lonely time for some people, and that's why the work like we see here is so important."

Treasurer Joe Hockey denies he is letting corporate tax avoiders off the hook.

The specific measure announced by the previous Labor government but never legislated - the so-called section 25-90 deduction - would have impeded legitimate taxpayer activity in investing offshore.

Treasury had advised the government not to proceed with the measure because it would have resulted in significant complexity and compliance costs.

"It was a practical decision because the draft law could not be satisfactorily implemented," Mr Hockey said in statement.

He said the government was committed to ensuring tax was paid on profits made in Australia.

It had already amended one tax law and the tax office had been given greater access to information on financial accounts people hold in other countries as well as Australia.

Also, through the G20 and the OECD, Australia has focused on a 15-point plan to combat so-called base erosion and profit shifting.