18 March 2015

Red tape removal helps energise enterprise

I welcome our 2015 Autumn Repeal Day.

Today further illustrates our Government’s commitment to cutting red tape and ensuring Australia becomes the very best place to build and grow a small business.

Our Government knows red tape and unnecessary compliance burden clog up the ability for the hard working women and men of small business to get their jobs done.

Complying with tax regulation costs small businesses around $18.7 billion annually – almost half of the total tax compliance costs of $40 billion.  As the engine room of our economy, it is important we get the settings right for small business.

That is why we have announced reforms to save over $2.45 billion annually through reduced compliance costs. We have also repealed over 10,000 legislative instruments and introduced legislation to repeal over 2,700 Acts of Parliament.

Excessive and costly regulation takes business owners away from running their business which hinders innovation, investment and job creation. By reducing red tape we are giving time back to those enterprising Australians of small business. Now they can put more energy in to working for the benefit of their business rather than use it on doing unnecessary paperwork.

In great news for small business an estimated 447,000 small businesses will benefit from changes to entry thresholds for PAYG instalments, reducing their compliance costs by $67.3 million per year. 

45,000 small businesses that have no GST reporting requirements will no longer have to lodge a business activity statement, where, to date, lodgements have been made only to report PAYG instalments. 

402,000 small businesses with modest or negative incomes that are required to lodge a business activity statement will no longer have to interact with the PAYG instalment system.

Reforms to the payment of superannuation contributions will reduce red tape by almost $20 million.  The measures will expand access to the Small Business Superannuation Clearing House and remove the obligation on business to offer employees choice of superannuation when it does not make sense to do so such as temporary residents.

The reforms through the new Franchising Code we introduced on 1 January 2015 will deliver an estimated $8.6 million per year in red tape savings across the sector.

As part of our broader reform agenda, the Government will undertake a comprehensive review of the tax system to deliver better taxes that are lower, simpler and fairer.  As part of this process, we will consider ways to reduce the compliance burden of our tax system, particularly on small businesses.