Shadow Small Business Minister Tim Wilson has pledged to challenge federal Labor’s super tax reforms and the Australian Taxation Office’s (ATO) handling of small business debt, in a combative speech outlining the Coalition’s new approach to SME issues.
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In his first major address since taking the Opposition’s small business and employment portfolios in May, Wilson said small businesses are struggling with tax burdens, red tape, and policy settings benefiting corporate Australia.
“To continue tolerating such needless complexity is a cocktail of absurdity, stupidity and insanity,” Wilson told the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA) National Small Business Summit in Melbourne on Tuesday.
Wilson said he will lead four shadow ministerial inquiries to hear from small businesses on four key policy issues affecting the sector.
Those inquiries will cover federal Labor’s plan to introduce a new tax on the portion of superannuation balances above $3 million, which could cover the capital gains of small business property held in self-managed superannuation funds.
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Other inquiries will investigate how the ATO handles the billions of dollars in debt held by small businesses — an issue raised by his predecessor — former independent MP Zoe Daniel — in the seat of Goldstein.
That investigation will consider the level of flexibility shown by the tax office, as it takes a firm approach to compliance and education activities.
Separately, Wilson wants to seek small business views on government procurement of small business goods and services, and the incentives offered to digital and ‘side hustle’ businesses.
Further detail on those shadow ministerial inquiries is forthcoming, he said.
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Red tape on the agenda
Regulatory complexity is making it difficult for small businesses to operate under rules better suited to large corporations, he added.
Small businesses should not be expected to have specialist human resources, tax and industrial relations advice to operate within the law, said Wilson.
Major corporates should be free to take advantage of their scale without bullying smaller competitors, and broader interventions are required to ensure more entrepreneurs are willing to strike out on their own, according to the shadow minister.
The future of the Australian economy is not purely salaried workers, he continued.
We should want Australians to aspire and dare, and to take control.
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Policy settings that encourage new business formation will shift “the mindset of the nation from employers and employees, to empowered workers that embrace a hustle that works for them,” he continued.
“That is what I want to see. And I want the rulebooks to make it possible, and what I will be fighting for every day over the next three years.
In the shadow of a major productivity roundtable taking place in Canberra this week, Wilson said the government should take a ‘hands-off’ approach to small business regulation.
Small businesses should focus on their own growth, not the federal government’s own productivity uplift plans, he added.
More to come.
