Gunnedah’s small businesses will be celebrating after being given tax relief that will ease the burden so they can grow, prosper and create new jobs.
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Treasurer Scott Morrison announced the government will cut the small business company tax rate to 27.5 per cent and make it available to all small companies with an annual turnover of less than $10 million from July 2016.
Simplified depreciation rules, including the ability to claim an immediate deduction for assets purchased costing less than $20,000 until June 30, 2017 is also expected to boost sales and purchases activity within the local electorate.
Federal MP Barnaby Joyce said if each of the more than 400 small businesses in the New England were to invest $20,000 in a piece of capital equipment, it could inject more than $80 million into the local economy.
“Small businesses are the engine room of our economy,” Mr Joyce said.
Gunnedah and District Chamber of Commerce president Jamie Chaffey said while company tax reductions were appreciated, the most positive thing to come out of the budget related to the cost of labour and the quality of skilled workers available – an issue that has been affecting Gunnedah businesses.
“The funding now put forward to try and reduce that gap by putting more money into training, internships and addressing youth unemployment may go a long way to help businesses who can’t afford high wages for skilled people who aren’t available.
“It will go a long way to assisting those businesses to fill some of the vacancies.”
Other new changes for small businesses include simplified trading stock rules which will give businesses the option to avoid an end of year stocktake if the value of their stock has changed by less than $5000; the option to account for GST on a cash basis and pay GST instalments as calculated by the Australian Taxation Office; a simplified method of paying PAYG instalments calculated by the ATO; making GST administration easier by simplifying the Business Activity Statements (BAS); and other tax concessions like fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemptions and deductability of professional expenses.
State Member for Tamworth Kevin Anderson said the budget dovetails perfectly into an inquiry he is chairing into payroll tax concessions for regional businesses.
