CHRIS SMITH:
I mentioned this small business package getting the green light from the Senate, yes it is almost a headline in itself!
The Senate passing a Budget package and it concerns small business - a $20,000 instant asset write off on an unlimited number of purchases and a 1.5 percent tax cut. Small Business Minister Bruce Billson is on the line right now. Minister good afternoon.
MINISTER BILLSON:
Good afternoon to you Chris and to your listeners.
CHRIS SMITH:
Shock horror, hold the front page, the Senate does not block legislation.
MINISTER BILLSON:
All systems go.
This one has got through because it is such a persuasive piece of policy.
Energising enterprise, getting behind those men and women that are taking risks to create jobs and opportunities in our economy.
What a great story and now it has passed the Senate, so for your listeners that are thinking about a new purchase, a new piece of kit or some asset that helps with the business, up to $20,000.
And they can go again and again, it can be instantly deductible and treated as an expense for the year in which it was purchased.
CHRIS SMITH:
So I can imagine many small businesses at the very least today would be considering purchasing, for instance, a whole heap of computers up to the value up to a value of $20,000.
These are the people it is meant to help right?
MINISTER BILLSON:
That is right, yes.
It might be your tradies that are thinking I might need that new piece of kit.
It might be someone wanting a trailer that helps with their productive capability.
And even at Linfield - I was with the coffee man there at Linfield saying he has got all those commuters heading to the railway station, he cannot delight them all because he needs another coffee machine.
So, a classic example of how a targeted business related investment can really boost prospects for that business, create jobs and you can expense them in the year that you purchase and have them operational rather than have them depreciated over a number of years and you can do that as many times as you can afford and help your business.
CHRIS SMITH:
It is a stimulus package of sorts and I just wonder how much of a positive impact the asset write off, together with the tax cut, might have on the economy.
MINISTER BILLSON:
Yes, we think it is a very positive and sensible measure.
It is not about taking money off other tax payers to give to someone else.
It is actually saying to small business men and women, you know your business, you know what can best boost the business.
If you have got an idea or an ambition, turn that into action and make that investment and through that recover some of the 519,000 jobs that were lost in small business under the previous Labor Government.
We have got to get those jobs back, we have got to build momentum, energise enterprise and that is what the Budget is all about.
CHRIS SMITH:
Alright, congratulations on the green light. Thank you for your time this afternoon.
MINISTER BILLSON:
Thank you Chris.
CHRIS SMITH:
Alright, Bruce Billson, Minister for Small Business.
It is almost a headline in itself. Senate does not block Government legislation as a result of the Budget.
But it is something that they would be hoping would just give a little bit of impetus to an economy which is wavering either way at the moment and hopefully that 1.5 per cent tax cut and the asset write off is a way of doing that.