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More must be done to reduce the burden of red tape for small businesses and the accountants servicing them, according to the Deputy Leader of the Opposition.
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Aussie small business facing ‘rocky road ahead’: Sussan Ley
31 August 2024
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In a recent address to the CPA Australia Albury Wodonga branch, federal member for Farrer and Deputy Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley said it was clear that small-business owners are navigating a challenging environment based on the conversations she’s had with well over 500 small businesses during the parliamentary term.
“You don’t need me to tell you that the road ahead for Australian small and family businesses is a rocky one,” said Ley.
“The Governor of the Reserve Bank talks about the ‘narrow path’. I think she is right and it’s a reminder that while Australian small businesses are not driving off a cliff, they are most certainly driving along a dangerous cliff edge.”
Ley acknowledged that a number of changes to financial advice regulations over the years have made it harder for accountants to assist small businesses with advice.
According to the shadow minister for small and family business, small businesses have fallen into “a dire state” with many business owners unable to even pay themselves in recent months.
Ley said that small-business owners are grappling with skyrocketing electricity bills; higher loan repayments; increased staff costs; and complexity around hiring, fewer apprentices, and trainees coming through, and near-impossible insurance premiums.
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“These resilient and innovative businesses have survived a once-in-a-century pandemic and yet are faced with the risk of being unable to survive today,” she said.
In addition, Ley said that red and green tape, which were intended to only catch big businesses, are instead “choking job creation, livelihoods in communities and innovation”.
With the next federal election approaching, the Coalition is promising to reduce the regulatory burden for small businesses and accountants and also make the instant asset write-off measure permanent at $30,000.
“This will simplify depreciation for millions of small businesses by boosting investment in productive assets, lower business costs, and put downward pressure on prices for consumers,” said Ley.
Ley said the Coalition also remained committed to moving a disallowance motion in Parliament to stop the new obligations for tax agents.
She said that the code obligations introduced by the Assistant Treasurer were deeply concerning and could affect the profession’s ability to attract future talent.
“We know that this industry is already facing a shortage of young people equipped to take the reins and the introduction of more unnecessary red tape for our most trusted professionals is going to further burden an industry already under pressure,” she said.
“That is also of concern to me, and I know this is an issue that faces so many of our regional businesses, especially for local tax practices.”
She said that the ABS forecasts showed that Australia requires nearly 340,000 accountants by 2026, which equates to almost 10,000 extra each year.
Ley said while many accounting firms are doing their bit to bring on young people from school and university and ensure they have the experience to meet high professional standards, the government should be making this easier, not harder.
“We need to grapple with the reality that if we aren’t skilling our young people as a first order priority and we aren’t bequeathing them a low-cost and high-opportunity economy, then they will simply give-up and pack-up,” she said.
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