Australian Small Business Group Responds To Leaked Tax Document

by Mary Swire, Tax-News.com, Hong Kong

09 August 2001

The chief executive of the Council of Small Business Organisations, Ron Bastion, responded favourably earlier this week to a leaked Federal Government document dealing with the tax treatment of small businesses in Australia.

The draft proposal was authored by the Minister for Small Business, Ian McFarlane, and made clear the concerns of small businesses, saying that although the government had been prepared to listen to concerns, there was still more to be done. In particular, the draft cabinet submission indicated that industry groups and peak bodies believe that approvals for Australian Work Agreements are too costly and time consuming, and that Commonwealth contracting and tendering arrangements are too complicated and expensive.

The Shadow Treasurer, Simon Crean, was quick to criticise Mr McFarlane, saying that he had been ignored by the Howard government, and had resorted to weak solutions. However, the latter was equally quick to defend the changes that had been made to the Australian tax system so far. 'What small business is telling me is that they knew they had to have tax reform,' he explained. 'Small business says to me that the thing they fear most about any future changes is rollback.'

Meanwhile, Mr Bastion, although he admits that he hasn't yet read the entire document, is simply happy that the matter of small business taxation is now being given serious consideration as a result of the leak. 'All too often small business policies are sort of cobbled together after the Cabinet submissions have been heard,' he observed. 'If this is an early attempt, then almost regardless of its content, I'm encouraged by it.'

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