The shadow treasurer says higher taxes will hinder business innovation and put a handbrake on the economy.
"Lower taxes encourage people to have a crack, to innovate, to build businesses and to build careers," Angus Taylor told a business forum in Sydney on Tuesday.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has welcomed a national conversation about how the government manages its funds but the only tax reform it has committed to is making sure multinational corporations pay a fairer share of tax.
Mr Taylor says the Liberals and Nationals remain committed to low taxes and are concerned the Labor government will revive higher taxation policies to allow them to boost spending.
"Their support for the stage three tax cuts is half-hearted, and it remains to be seen whether they will see them through," he said at a Centre for Independent Studies event.
Mr Taylor's comments follow a Productivity Commission report showing stagnant innovation across Australian businesses and government, and that Australian firms are falling behind global leaders.
Dr Chalmers said the coalition government delivered the worst decade for productivity growth in half a century.
"The report shows that while the ball got dropped in the past, there are significant opportunities to boost productivity, including through greater collaboration," Dr Chalmers said.
Mr Taylor also said the budget was in a better position than expected.
"We handed over an economy and a budget in far better shape than most could have imagined."
The federal budget recorded an unexpected $50 billion improvement in its bottom line last financial year, in part due to high commodity prices.
The final budget outcome document will be released on Wednesday.
Australia may be in a better position than European and US economies but Dr Chalmers says the country is not immune to dire global conditions.
Australia's economic position has been downgraded by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, with the organisation projecting real GDP to grow by 4.1 per cent in 2022 and two per cent in 2023.
Core inflation in Australia is also expected to hit 5.4 per cent in 2022 before falling to 4.3 per cent in 2023.
The OECD's economic outlook report showed inflation spreading widely across many economies since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"The effects of the war and the continuing impacts of COVID-19 outbreaks in some parts of the world have dented growth and put additional upward pressure on prices, above all for energy and food," the report said.
© AAP 2022