Deficit levy will be permanent: Bowen

Shadow treasurer Chris Bowen appears to have contradicted his leader, saying the deficit levy on high-income earners will be permanent.

Earlier, Opposition Leader Bill Shorten said a Labor government would keep the budget repair levy for at least 10 years.

The two per cent temporary levy on those earning above $180,000, introduced by the Abbott government in 2014, is legislated to end in mid-2017.

"I said on budget night that Labor would make the top marginal tax rate a permanent marginal tax rate," Mr Bowen told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

Tax relief across all income brackets would only be considered by a Labor government "when fiscal circumstances allow".