With the 2016 federal election looming closer, the two main political parties have outlined their policy plans, and while none of these relate to the print industry specifically, they do outline its position on small business.
A Labor spokesperson told Australian Printer the party is holding firm on the tax rate cut it proposed last year for small business.
“Labor will support a cut to the company tax rate for small businesses with a turnover of less than $2m a year, taking the rate to 27.5 per cent. This will apply to 83 per cent of all businesses”, the spokesperson says.
When handing down the federal budget last month, the Coalition revealed it would also introduce the same tax rate cut of 27.5 per cent.
However the Coalition has gone one step further by widening the threshold for businesses eligible to receive the reduced rate, bumping it up to businesses with an annual turnover of less than $10m.
Labor is also planning to introduce a New Jobs Tax Cut which will allow small business to claim a tax deduction of up to $20,000 per worker to offset the wages of up to five new employees.
The Labor spokesperson says, “This will boost jobs while reducing the red tape burden on small businesses, who just want to get on with running their business, not filling in paperwork.
“Eligibility to claim the New Jobs Tax Cut will be targeted to employing those Australians who face real barriers to joining the labour market including unemployed jobseekers aged under 25 or over 55 and parents or carers returning to work after more than six months away.”
General manager of Brisbane’s InHouse Print & Design, Nevada Matthews knows from experience the difference government incentives can make to a business.
“We have a staff member working here at InHouse that is over 55, and she had a lot of experience but no formal qualifications. We found out that people over a certain age get apprenticeship incentives and we have put her on that now,” Matthews says.
“The incentives have allowed her to access loans for her study and have helped the business out a bit as well so all those things make a difference. If she decided to move on from the business in the future, she would still have this qualification which she has never had before.”
InHouse prints election materials for both the Liberal and Labor party, for this reason Matthews says the business tries to stay politically neutral.
He says, “I have not entirely made my mind up. From what I have heard there is a lot of good and bad from both sides, but the Labor small business assistance sounds like a good thing and I definitely want to look into that myself.”
Kwik Kopy Auburn franchise owner Kate McConville believes both parties’ incentives will not have any impact on her business.
“We do not have the capacity to employ extra people, so the benefits of employing someone and getting that $20,000 back just does not work for us,” she explains.
“We are a $1m turnover business with five staff but both parties cannot offer us anything that will make a significant difference. Incentives for solar panels would help and appropriate NBN access, it is so frustrating not having stable internet access when we run a print shop.
“There is so much discussion about regional areas not having access to NBN, but we run a primarily web based print shop in Auburn and we can hardly send out emails throughout the day.”
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