Bills Digest no. 8 2015–16
PDF version [590KB]
WARNING: This Digest was prepared for debate. It reflects the legislation as introduced and does not canvass subsequent amendments. This Digest does not have any official legal status. Other sources should be consulted to determine the subsequent official status of the Bill.
Bernard Pulle and Elizabeth Wakerly
Economics Section
12 August 2015
Contents
The
Bills Digest at a glance
Purpose of the Bill
Structure of the Bill
Background
Committee consideration
Policy position of non-government parties
Position of major interest groups
Financial implications
Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights
Key issues and provisions
Date introduced: 24
June 2015
House: House of
Representatives
Portfolio: Treasury
Commencement: On Royal
Assent.
Links: The links to the Bill,
its Explanatory Memorandum and second reading speech can be found on the
Bill’s home page, or through the Australian
Parliament website.
When Bills have been passed and have received Royal Assent, they
become Acts, which can be found at the ComLaw
website.
Purpose of the Bill
- The
purpose of the Bill is to amend:
- the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997
to: provide a five per cent tax offset to individuals who run small businesses,
or who have a share of a small business’s income included in their assessable
income; and enable small businesses and individuals to immediately deduct
certain costs incurred when starting up a business and
- the
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986 to extend the fringe benefits tax exemption that applies to employers
that provide employees with work-related portable electronic devices.
Background
- This
Bill covers three measures announced by the Government as part of a broader
‘Growing Jobs and Small Business’ package in the 2015–16 Budget.
Proposed measures
- Schedule
1 provides a tax offset to an individual who carries on an unincorporated small
business entity (businesses with an aggregate turnover of less than $2 million)
or an individual whose assessable income includes a share of the net income of
an unincorporated small business entity such as a partnership. The amount of
the tax offset is five per cent of the income tax payable on the portion of an
individual’s income that is small business income. The maximum amount of the
tax offset available to an individual in an income year is capped at $1,000.
- Schedule
2 amends the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 to allow small businesses
and individuals to immediately deduct certain costs incurred when starting up a
business, including government fees and charges as well as costs associated
with raising capital, that are presently only deductible over five years.
- Schedule
3 to the Bill extends the fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption that applies to
employers that provide employees with work-related portable electronic devices.
The amendments extend the exemption to small businesses that provide employees
with more than one work-related portable electronic device, even where the
devices have substantially identical functions.
Views of interest groups and non-government parties
- All
major parties and stakeholders are supportive of the measures, although some
are calling for the tax concessions to go further.
The purpose of the Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business
Measures No. 3) Bill 2015 (the Bill) is to amend:
- the
Income Tax Assessment Act 1997[1]
(ITAA 1997) to
- provide
a tax offset to individuals who run small businesses with an aggregate annual turnover
of less than $2 million or who have a share of a small business’s income
included in their assessable income
- enable
small businesses and individuals to immediately deduct certain costs incurred
when setting up a business
- the
Fringe Benefits Tax Assessment Act 1986[2]
(FBTAA 1986) to extend the fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption that
applies to employers that provide employees with work-related portable
electronic devices.
This Bill has three schedules:
- Schedule
1 of the Bill will amend the income tax laws to provide a tax offset (the small
business income tax offset) to individuals who run small businesses (businesses
with an aggregate annual turnover of less than $2 million) or who pay
income tax on a share of the income of a small business. The amount of the
offset is five per cent of the income tax payable on the portion of an
individual’s income that is small business income. The maximum amount of the
tax offset available to an individual in an income year is capped at $1,000.
The measure applies from the 2015–16 income year.
- Schedule
2 of the Bill will amend the ITAA 1997 to allow taxpayers who are not in
business or are a small business entity to immediately deduct certain expenses
relating to the proposed structure or operation of a business. The expenses
must relate to a business that is proposed to be carried on, including certain government
fees and charges and costs associated with raising capital. These expenses are
presently deductible over five years.
- Schedule
3 of the Bill will extend the FBT exemption that currently applies to employers
that provide employees with work-related portable electronic devices such as
mobile phones, laptops and tablets. This exemption currently only applies to more
than one substantially identical device where one device is a replacement for
the other. The amendments will extend the exemption beyond simple replacement
devices for small businesses that provide employees with more than one
work-related portable electronic device, even where the devices have
substantially identical functions.
Policy announcements and related
measures
This Bill covers three measures announced by the
Government as part of a broader ‘Growing Jobs and Small Business’ package,
announced in the 2015–16 Budget.[3]
The proposals, as announced in the 2015–16 Budget on 12
May 2015 were for:
- a
five per cent tax offset (capped at $1,000 per income year) from 1 July 2015 to
individuals who run small businesses or who pay income tax on a share of the
income of a small business
- immediate
deductibility of a range of expenses associated with starting up a business and
- an
extension of the fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption that applies to employers
that provide employees with portable work-related portable electronic devices.[4]
Other elements of the package, which are being implemented
by other Bills, included:
- a
reduction in the company tax rate to 28.5 per cent for small businesses from 1
July 2015[5]
- small
businesses with annual turnover below $2 million will be able to fully and
immediately deduct the expenditure on every asset they acquire that is valued
up to $20,000 for tax purposes—an increase from the current $1,000 threshold[6]
- reforms
to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) rollover will enable small businesses to change the
legal structure of their business without incurring a CGT liability and
- expanded
tax concessions for employee share schemes from 1 July 2015
- removing
obstacles to crowd sourced equity funding and
- streamlining
business registration processes.[7]
Definition of small business
The definition of small business relevant to this Bill
relies on the definition in the ITAA 1997 of a small business entity.
A business will be a small business entity in the current
financial year if:
- it
is carrying on a business in the current year and
- one
or both of the following applies:
- if
the business was carried on in the previous year before the
current year and the aggregated turnover for the previous year was less than $2
million or
- the
aggregated turnover for the current year is likely to be less than $2 million.[8]
In 2012–13, there were 298,225 taxable entities meeting
this definition of a small business, of which 288,810 were profitable.[9]
Of these entities, over half operated in financial and insurance services,
rental hiring and real estate services and professional, scientific and
technical services.[10]
On average, the most profitable industries in which these entities operated
were financial and insurance services, mining and agriculture, forestry and
fishing.
Context of amendments
There are a number of arguments both for and against
concessional tax treatment for small businesses. A summary is provided in the
Bills Digest for the Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 1) Bill
2015.[11]
The regulation impact statement contained in the Explanatory
Memorandum to the Bill notes that:
while small businesses have played a significant role in the
Australian economy, they also face a unique set of operational challenges, and
as a consequence typically have higher failure rates than those for larger
companies.
... A further challenge for small companies is access to
finance.[12]
In particular:
Small businesses are typically more vulnerable to shocks and
changes in economic conditions than larger businesses. This makes it
particularly important that, during this period of economic transition, policy
settings support small business growth and innovation.[13]
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS),
small businesses comprise 95.9 per cent of all businesses, and employ
approximately 4.8 million people or 45.7 per cent of the private sector work
force.[14]
In terms of the contribution of small business to the
Australian economy, a recent report by the Productivity Commission noted that
small businesses (defined as those with fewer than 20 employees) were less
likely to engage in innovative activity than larger businesses: only one per
cent of small businesses introduced an innovative product or service that was
‘new to Australia’ in 2012–13 (compared with 14 per cent of large businesses).[15]
These findings are supported by the ABS Innovation in
Australian Business, 2012–13 survey, which found that the likelihood that a
business engages in innovative activity increases as the size of the business—
measured by employment size— increases.[16]
In March 2015, the Government published a tax discussion
paper which raised some specific issues relating to small businesses, including
legal structure, interaction between the personal and business tax systems,
compliance costs and small business tax concessions.[17]
The study noted that differential tax concessions to small businesses are
designed to address multiple concerns about compliance costs, risk aversion and
adequate access to capital, or to correct ‘disadvantages of being small’ and to
support job creation.[18]
But the additional concessions add to compliance costs and complexity of the
system and may cancel out any perceived benefits. The creation of new
concessions and regular changes to the tax law require small businesses to
continuously monitor the tax law and adapt to any changes. The paper suggests:
Instead of multiple concessions across the tax system, an alternative
option that could be considered is to apply a lower or zero tax rate for small
businesses. A lower rate that replaced multiple specific concessions could
encourage small businesses to spend their resources expanding their business,
rather than managing their tax affairs.[19]
Schedule 1 — Tax discount for
unincorporated small businesses
In the 2015–16 Budget, the Government announced a number of
measures as part of a jobs and small business package, including providing a
tax discount to unincorporated small businesses broadly equivalent to the small
business company tax rate cut of 1.5 per cent. Reducing the rate of company tax
for incorporated small businesses without offering a tax cut for unincorporated
entities might have encouraged small business owners to structure their
business differently from how they would prefer in order to gain a tax
advantage. Business owners may choose not to incorporate because the reporting
requirements are less onerous or because they desire more flexibility in how
they operate their business. For businesses operated by a sole trader (through
a partnership or through a trust), the business income is usually taxed at the
marginal rate of personal income tax of the business owner.
Citing a 2014 study by the University of NSW and Chartered
Accountants of Australia and New Zealand, the recent Government tax discussion
paper notes that tax compliance costs are higher per dollar of turnover for
smaller businesses than they are for larger business.[20]
The 2013 Productivity Commission (PC) report on Regulator Engagement with Small
Business noted that:
Small businesses feel the burden of regulation more strongly
than other businesses. Almost universally, their lack of staff, time and
resources present challenges in understanding and fulfilling compliance
obligations.
Governments and regulators should provide different treatment
for small business when net benefits to the community would be enhanced (from
Recommendation 8).
Given small businesses generally have less capacity to distil
regulatory requirements and higher compliance cost structures, regulators
should, where possible, remove any unnecessary complexity in regulatory
requirements and associated guidance material (from Recommendation 9).[21]
In a submission to the PC, the Australian Small Business
Commissioner notes that ‘it is the experience of my Office that access to
finance is still an issue for some small businesses, especially start-ups’.[22]
These views are supported by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland:
Access to finance is a significant issue for all small
business looking to invest and grow, and is particularly difficult for
entrepreneurs that are looking to fund a new idea.[23]
The tax discount for unincorporated small businesses will
help to improve their cash flow by reducing the amount of tax payable in the
financial year and help to alleviate higher regulatory costs. It may also help
some small businesses to secure finance and render previously marginal
activities (more) profitable.[24]
Although capped at $1,000 a year, the cash-flow from the discount can be
re-invested in the business, which, when combined with other small business
measures, could lead to potentially higher employment and wages.[25]
The Government estimates some transitional compliance
costs for the 1.5 million unincorporated small business entities and 785,000
individuals who receive distributions from trusts and partnerships, assessed at
$14.8 million per year.[26]
Schedule 2 — Immediate
deductibility for small business start-up expenses
The tax law draws a distinction between income and capital.
Taxpayers carrying on a business can deduct from their assessable income any
losses or outgoings which are necessarily incurred in carrying on a business
for the purpose of gaining or producing assessable income. Section 40-880 of
the ITAA 1997 currently allows entities to deduct over a five-year
period capital expenditure they incur for the purposes of a business, including
expenses relating to establishing a proposed business.
Schedule 2 to this Bill will amend the ITAA 1997 to
allow taxpayers who are not in business or are a small business entity to
immediately deduct certain start-up expenses relating to the proposed structure
or operation of a business. The amendments do not amend the scope of what is
currently deductible; they bring forward the time at which certain deductible
expenditure can be recognised.
According to the Explanatory Memorandum, the amendments
limit immediate deductibility to:
- expenditure
on advice or services relating to the structure or operation of the proposed
business, including
- advice
relating to business structure from a lawyer or accountant and services
provided in setting up legal arrangements or business systems
- professional
advice on the viability of the proposed business and the development of a
business plan and
- the
costs associated with raising capital including costs incurred in accessing
crowd-sourced equity funding (but not the direct costs of the capital itself)
and
- payments
of taxes, fees or charges relating to establishing the business or its
structure made to an Australian government agency including:[27]
- the
costs associated with creating the entity that may operate the business (for
example, the fee for creating a company) and
- the
costs associated with transferring assets to the entity which is intended to
carry on the proposed business (for example, the payment of stamp duty).[28]
Schedule 3 — FBT and portable electronic
devices
FBT, introduced in 1986, is
... a tax employers pay on certain benefits they
provide to their employees, including their employees’ family or other
associates. The benefit may be in addition to, or part of, their salary or
wages package.[29]
FBT is calculated under the FBTAA 1986. It is
separate from income tax and is calculated on the grossed up taxable value of
the fringe benefits provided. A benefit that is exempt is not a fringe benefit,
and so is not included in calculating an employer’s FBT liability.
On 20 January 2015, the Government announced the release
of the Board of Taxation’s report on its review of tax impediments facing small
business.[30]
Among the observations and recommendations were the following:
The frequency with which FBT issues were raised by
stakeholders suggests FBT creates a significant and disproportionate compliance
burden for small businesses. A number of options to relieve some of this burden
were suggested.[31]
The Government response stated:
The Government supports reducing the regulatory burden on
small business and will consider FBT in the context of the Tax White Paper.[32]
In its submission to the Government’s discussion paper,
Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand noted that although small
business represents a large share of all businesses, it is not as productive as
it could be.[33]
In the case of FBT,
FBT is a ‘drag net’ tax – employers spend most of their
efforts ensuring they qualify for the many exemptions.[34]
Currently, a number of items are exempt from FBT. These
include ‘portable electronic device such as mobile phone, laptop, portable
printer and GPS navigation receiver’. However, this exemption is limited to one
item per FBT year for ‘items that have a substantially identical function,
unless the item is a replacement item’.[35]
The exemption is limited to items primarily for work-related use (subsection
58X(2) of the FBTAA 1986).
‘Substantially identical function’ refers to the features
or design specifications, not the intended use of the items. For example, where
a tablet computer can perform the functions of a laptop computer, it would be
considered to have substantially identical functions to a laptop computer.
Where a tablet computer is designed primarily as a means of digital media
consumption (rather than creation) it would not have substantially identical
functions to a laptop.
The distinction between replacement items and other
substantially identical items and the operation of the ‘substantially identical
functions test’ impose significant compliance costs on small businesses as the
distinctions are uncertain and difficult to apply.
Schedule 3 of the Bill will remove the substantially
identical functions limitation on the FBT exemption for work‑related
portable electronic devices, for small business entities.
To be entitled to the exemption, an employer will need to be
a small business entity for the purposes of the relevant FBT year in which they
provide the portable electronic device. The FBT year starts on 1 April and ends
on 31 March. In contrast, the definition of a small business looks at whether a
business is a small business entity for an income year (1 July to 30 June). The
amendments apply to an employer for an FBT year if the employer was a small
business entity for either or both of:
- the
year of income starting most recently after the start of the FBT year or
- the
year of income ending most recently after the start of the FBT year.[36]
At the time of writing this Bills Digest, the Senate
Standing Committee for the Scrutiny of Bills had not commented on the Bill. The
Bill had not been referred to any other Committee for consideration.
In his budget reply speech on 14 May 2015, the Leader of
the Opposition, Bill Shorten, indicated that the Australian Labor Party would
support the small business measures announced in the 2015–16 Budget.[37]
He encouraged the Government to reduce the tax rate for Australian small
business further to 25 per cent.[38]
The Australian Greens welcomed the proposal for the small
business company tax cut following the release of the Budget.[39]
Their 2013 election policy proposed a reduction in the company tax rate to 28
per cent from 1 July 2014 for companies with a turnover of under $2 million.[40]
The Business Council of Australia Chief Executive, Jennifer
Westacott, supported the small business measures, but was keen to continue
reform:
The budget is without doubt a shot in the arm to small
business, and creates a better environment for business confidence that will
drive investment, job creation and economic growth.
... The small business package provides some welcome relief by
assisting start-ups and helping to keep small enterprises to be competitive.
... While a two-tier company tax rate is not ideal, the impact
of these measures is confined to a small part of the economy. It is important
for both major parties to remain committed to a lower, more internationally
competitive company tax rate for all businesses as fiscal circumstances permit.[41]
Kate Carnell AO, CEO of the Australian Chamber of Commerce
and Industry, welcomed the small business measures in the Budget:
With more than seven in 10 Australian small businesses
unincorporated, it was concerning that they would miss out on the benefit of
the 1.5 percentage point cut in company tax for businesses with a turnover of
less than $2 million.
It is encouraging that the government is looking after those
1.7 million unincorporated small businesses, including tradies, sole operators
and partnerships, with other support. Making it easier for small businesses to
claim tax deductions for their expenses will make it easier for small
businesses to invest.
These deductions are particular[ly] powerful when combined
with recently announced measures to help new businesses, including allowing new
start-ups to immediately deduct professional costs, such as for legal and
accounting services, as well as streamlined company registration and removing
barriers to crowd-sourced equity funding.[42]
Australian Industry Group Chief Executive
Innes Willox issued a statement that was supportive of the small business
measures:
The package of business tax measures, while limited to
businesses with turnover of less than $2 million, will provide a timely lift in
incentives for small businesses to grow, invest and create jobs.
...The measures to streamline business registration; remove tax
barriers to small business restructuring; and allow immediate deductions for
certain start-up expenses are sensible initiatives. They will boost new
business creation; reduce regulatory burdens; give business owners more time to
spend on their businesses; and generate new opportunities for growth.[43]
Peter Strong, CEO of the Council of Small Business
Organisations of Australia, mentioned the five per cent discount for
unincorporated small business as a ‘highlight of the budget’:
The depth of announcements in the budget shows that the
government understands that it is the little changes as well as the big ticket
items that make a difference. The small business person’s capacity to start up,
operate and if desired grow their business has been enhanced.[44]
Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand welcomed the
small business measures, but argued for a tax cut ‘across the board’ and ‘a
plan to lower it over successive budgets to 25 per cent’.
The cost of setting up a business will be
reduced with legal and accounting advice being written off and the process to
register a business simplified. This should boost innovative start-ups and
create yet more energy in the engine room of the economy.[45]
The Explanatory Memorandum outlines the financial impact
of the measures which are estimated to be $1,830 million over the four
years to 2018–19 (Table 1).
Table 1: Financial impact of (i) the small business
income tax offset (ii) immediate deductibility for small business start-up
expenses and (iii) extension of the fringe benefits tax (FBT) exemption 2014–15
to 2018‑19 ($ million)
|
2014–15
|
2015–16
|
2016–17
|
2017–18
|
2018–19
|
Total
|
Tax discount for unincorporated small businesses
|
0
|
0
|
-550
|
-600
|
-650
|
-1,800
|
Immediate deductibility for small business start-up
expenses
|
-
|
-
|
-10
|
-10
|
-10
|
-30
|
Extension of the FBT exemption
|
-
|
-
|
*
|
*
|
*
|
*
|
* A small but unquantifiable cost to revenue.
Source: Explanatory
Memorandum, Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 3) Bill 2015,
pp. 7–9, accessed 5 August 2015.
As required under Part 3 of the Human Rights
(Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (Cth), the Government has assessed the
Bill’s compatibility with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared
in the international instruments listed in section 3 of that Act. The
Government considers that the Bill is compatible.[46]
The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights considers
that the Bill does not raise human rights concerns.[47]
Schedule 1—Tax discount for
unincorporated small businesses
Item 1 of Schedule 1 of the Bill will amend
the ITAA 1997 to insert proposed Subdivision 328‑F—Small
business income tax offset. This subdivision provides a tax offset to
an individual who carries on an unincorporated small business entity or an
individual whose assessable income includes a share of the net income of an
unincorporated small business entity such as a partnership.
The term ‘small business entity’ is defined in
section 328-110 of the ITAA 1997 and basically is an entity which
carries on a business whose aggregated annual turnover is less than $2 million
for an income year.[48]
The term ‘corporate tax entity’ is defined in section
960-115 of the ITAA 1997 and includes entities that are companies,
corporate limited partnerships, corporate unit trusts and public trading
trusts.[49]
Proposed subsections 328-360(1) and (2) of proposed Subdivision 328‑F
will provide that the amount of the tax offset is five per
cent of the income tax payable on the portion of an individual’s income that is
small business income. The maximum amount of the tax offset available to an
individual in an income year will be capped at $1,000.
Item 6 of Schedule 1 provides that the amendments to
be made by this Schedule will apply to assessments for the 2015–16 income year
and later income years.
Schedule 2— Immediate deductibility
for small business start-up expenses
Currently, section 40–880 of the ITAA 1997 allows an
entity to deduct over a five-year period capital expenditure it incurs for the
purposes of a business that the entity carries on, or a business proposed to be
carried on or that used to be carried on.
Such deductions are only available if the business was
previously or proposed to be carried on for a taxable purpose and the
expenditure relates to the business of the entity deriving assessable income
from the business. In addition, the expenditure must not fall into one of the
categories of expenditure described as excluded expenditure under subsection
40–880(5) of the ITAA 1997.
As mentioned above, the Treasurer announced in the 2015-16
Budget that from the 2015–16 income year, businesses would be able to
immediately deduct a range of expenses associated with starting a new business,
including professional, accounting and legal advice, that can presently be
deducted over a five-year period.[50]
Items 2 and 3 of Schedule 2 will give
effect to this proposal for immediate deductibility of capital expenditure to a
small business entity in relation to a business that is proposed to be carried
on and is incurred in:
-
obtaining advice or services relating to the proposed structure,
or proposed operation of the business or
-
payment to an Australian government agency of fees, taxes or
charges relating to establishing the business or its operating structure.
Item 5 of Schedule 2 states that the
amendments apply to expenditure incurred in the 2015–16 income year and later
income years.
Schedule 3—FBT and portable
electronic devices
Currently, a portable electronic device is not exempt from
FBT if, earlier in the same FBT year, the employer has provided the employee,
by way of an expense payment or property benefit, with an item that has
substantially identical functions.
Item 2 of Schedule 3 will repeal existing subsection
58X(4) of the FBTAA 1986 and substitute proposed subsection 58X(4) to
remove this limitation with respect to portable electronic devices provided by
small business employers to their employees.[51]
Small business employers will be allowed an FBT exemption for multiple portable
electronic devices provided to the same employee in the same FBT year,
notwithstanding that those devices have substantially identical functions.
Item 4 of Schedule 3 provides that the
amendments made by this Schedule apply in relation to the 2016–17 FBT year and
later FBT years.
Members, Senators and Parliamentary staff can obtain
further information from the Parliamentary Library on (02) 6277 2500.
[1]. Income Tax Assessment
Act 1997, accessed 29 July 2015.
[2]. Fringe Benefits Tax
Assessment Act 1986, accessed 29 July 2015.
[3]. T
Abbott (Prime Minister), J Hockey (Treasurer) and B Billson (Minister for Small
Business), Growing
jobs and small business package to help small businesses invest more, grow
more, and employ more, joint media release, 12 May 2015, accessed 30
July 2015. See also Australian Government, Budget
2015: growing jobs and small business, 2015, accessed 30 July 2015.
[4]. Australian
Government, Budget
measures: budget paper no. 2: 2015–16, 2015, pp. 17-19, accessed 30
July 2015.
[5]. See
Parliament of Australia, ‘Tax
Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 1) Bill 2015 homepage’,
Australian Parliament website, for the Bill, the relevant Explanatory
Memorandum and the Bills Digest. The Tax Laws Amendment
(Small Business Measures No. 1) Act 2015 received Royal Assent on 22
June 2015, accessed 12 August 2015.
[6]. See
Parliament of Australia, ‘Tax
Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 2) Bill 2015 homepage’
Australian Parliament website, for the Bill, the relevant Explanatory
Memorandum and the Bills Digest. The Tax Laws
Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 2) Act 2015 received Royal
Assent on 22 June 2015, accessed 12 August 2015.
[7]. Budget
2015: growing jobs and small business, 2015, op. cit.
[8]. Income Tax Assessment
Act 1997, section 328-110, accessed 31 July 2015.
[9]. Australian
Taxation Office (ATO), ‘Table
5: companies: selected items and financial ratios, by company size, taxable
status, profit status and broad industry, 2012–13 income year’, ATO
website, accessed 30 July 2015. The ATO taxation statistics define businesses
with a turnover of less than $2 million as ‘micro’ businesses.
[10]. See
Table 1 in K Swoboda, Tax
Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 1) Bill 2015, Bills digest,
116, 2014–15, Parliamentary Library, Canberra, 2015, accessed 5 August 2015.
[11]. Tax
Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 1) Bill 2015, Bills digest, op.
cit.
[12]. Explanatory
Memorandum, Tax Laws Amendment (Small Business Measures No. 3) Bill 2015,
p. 33, accessed 12 August 2015.
[13]. Ibid.,
p. 34.
[14]. Australian
Small Business Commissioner, Productivity
Commission regulator engagement with small business: submission by the Office
of the Australian Small Business Commissioner, March 2013, p. 2,
accessed 6 August 2015.
[15]. Productivity
Commission, Business
set-up, transfer and closure, Productivity Commission draft report,
Canberra, ACT, May 2015, pp. 4–5, accessed 6 August 2015.
[16]. Australian
Bureau of Statistics, Innovation in
Australian Business, 2012–13, 21 August 2014, accessed 11 August 2015.
[17]. Australian
Government, Re:think
– Tax discussion paper, March 2015, pp. 105–120, accessed 7 August
2015.
[18]. Ibid.,
p. 114.
[19]. Ibid.,
p. 119.
[20]. Ibid.,
pp. 112–113, accessed 30 July 2015.
[21]. Productivity
Commission, Regulator
engagement with small business, Research report, the Commission,
Canberra, September 2013, pp. 2 and 22, accessed 6 August 2015.
[22]. M
Brennan (Australian Small Business Commissioner), Observation
to Productivity Commission, Inquiry into business set-up, transfer and
closure, Australian Small Business Commissioner, Canberra, 8 July 2015,
accessed 6 August 2015.
[23]. N
Behrens (Director, Advocacy and Workplace Relations), Feedback
to Productivity Commission, Inquiry into business set-up, transfer and
closure, Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland, 3 July 2015,
accessed 6 August 2015.
[24]. Note,
however, that the PC draft report (Business set-up, transfer and closure)
did not identify access to finance as a problem facing most new businesses (see
Business set-up, transfer and closure, op. cit., p. 112).
[25]. Explanatory
Memorandum, op. cit., p. 40.
[26]. Explanatory
Memorandum, op. cit., p. 37.
[27]. Australian
government agency (as defined in the Dictionary at section 995-1 of the ITAA
1997) means a Commonwealth, a state or territory or an authority thereof
(including local governments).
[28]. Explanatory
Memorandum, op. cit., pp. 45–46.
[29]. Australian
Taxation Office (ATO), ‘Fringe
benefits tax (FBT)’, ATO website, accessed 30 July 2015.
[30]. The
Board of Taxation, Review
of tax impediments facing small business: a report to the Government,
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[31]. Ibid.,
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[32]. Australian
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[33]. R
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[34]. Ibid.,
p. 61.
[35]. ATO,
‘Fringe
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[36]. Item
2 of Schedule 3 to the Bill, inserting subsection 58(4) into the Fringe Benefits Tax
Assessment Act 1986.
[37]. B
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[38]. Ibid.
[39]. P
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[40]. Australian
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[41]. Business
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[42]. Australian
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[43]. I
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[45]. Chartered
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[46]. The
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[47]. Parliamentary
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[48]. Income
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[49]. Ibid., section 960-115, accessed 2 August 2015.
[50]. Australian
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