One of the main people behind the Government's big business tax cuts wants profitable sectors to help fund the reforms.

Economist Chris Murphy, who performed the modelling for Malcolm Turnbull's tax shake-up for the Treasury, says sectors that enjoy “excess profits” should pay more.

“Where excess profits exist, they are best taxed separately using specially designed economic rent taxes, such as the existing petroleum resource rent tax,” Mr Murphy has told the ABC.

“There is scope to extend economic rent taxes to other sectors, such as banking.”

He said it would be “a sensible option” for recovering some of the estimated $65 billion decade cost of the corporate tax cuts.

Mr Murphy said finance, telecommunications, insurance and superannuation funds and beverage industries were the main sectors with “excess profits”.

Mr Murphy’s call to tax super-profits is one of a number of proposals including reform for dividend imputation.

“Funding options are needed because international tax competition is likely to eventually push our company tax rate down to around 20 per cent,” he said.

The Government has a resource rent tax for the petroleum sector that “encourages the exploration and production of petroleum while ensuring an adequate return to the community”.

It also placed a $6 billion levy on the major banks in the 2017 budget.