Treasurer Scott Morrison has defended his relationship with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull following several missteps that put the pair publicly at odds.

Mr Morrison appeared to have been caught unawares last week when the federal budget, which it is his job to hand down, was brought forward, leading to claims by the opposition the Treasurer had been "completely emasculated".

And the pair contradicted each other on a critical aspect of the proposal to give states their own income taxing powers on Wednesday, with Mr Turnbull saying it was possible states could put up their income tax surcharge while Mr Morrison said it was not a risk.

But on ABC's 7.30 on Thursday night, Mr Morrison denied that he had been relegated to the role of an "employee" to the Prime Minister's "CEO".