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Australia needs to overhaul its tax mix with high taxes and excessive regulation seeing some Australians move overseas to start businesses, the director of Vantage Accounting has said.
High taxes, regulation burden driving Aussie start-ups offshore, says tax specialist
14 March 2025
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7 minute read
Many Australians are leaving the country to start businesses in lower tax jurisdictions such as Singapore and counties in the Middle East with these countries offering better access to investment, less regulation and a stronger talent pool, according to director of Vantage Accounting, Michael Messner.
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Speaking in a recent Under the Hood podcast, Messner said this has resulted in less private enterprise starting up in Australia with Australian business owners leaving Australia's shores for other jurisdictions.
"I was in Qatar in September 2024 and was amazed at how many startups are over there," he said.
Messner said this included many Australians who had moved there to set up businesses.
"When I spoke to them they said 'we are here because there's no taxes, there's plenty of investment, less regulation and you can easily attract knowledgeable workers here'," he said.
This is also reflected in some of the latest employment figures, Messner said, which indicated that private sector employment has increased very little in Australia over the past two years.
Messner said while Australia shouldn't be aiming to have the lowest tax rates, there needs to be a major discussion around the current tax mix in Australia and what is currently being taxed.
"Australia has very high income tax rates. Given the changes that have occurred in the world over the last 100 years with capital becoming more productive than labour, it's probably not the best idea to tax labour heavily."
"We should be allowing people to work, reap the rewards and then subsequently tax consumption instead. That's the path that a lot of European countries follow quite significantly."
Messner also said there was a lack of political appetite towards simplifying Australia's tax laws, which was placing Australia's position in the global economy under greater pressure.
“We’re not reforming quickly enough, and there’s too much political battling and focus on raising every last dollar instead of being practical about it.”
“This is fundamentally the problem.”
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