Federal Election Promises
Both labor and the coalition have made a range of promises for business. Here’s the breakdown and what it means for your business.
SMALL BUSINESS:
Labor:
- Says it would cut the red tape by administering paid parental leave through Centrelink for businesses with fewer than 20 employees.
- Would give an upfront tax deduction for small businesses when they buy equipment and assets worth up to $10,000.
- Would also reduce GST reporting requirements from four times a year to just once a year for businesses with turnover of less than $20 million a year.
- Would also extend the free small business superannuation clearing house to businesses with less than 100 employees from July 1, 2014.
The Coalition:
- Would spend $6 million to create a Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman.
- It would also spend $3 million to improve access for small businesses to Commonwealth contracts.
- It would also spend $1 billion to cut red tape including changing superannuation payment methods.
- Would also spend $1 million to extend unfair contract protections so they cover small businesses as well as consumers.
- Would axe a $6500 instant asset write off for small businesses with turnover less than $2 million.
- It would also axe a tax-loss carry-forward scheme, which allows businesses to claim losses of up to $1 million against tax they have paid in the previous two years.
MANUFACTURING BUSINESS:
Labor: Would invest $35.6 million to assist about 6800 new and existing manufacturing workers in upskilling for hi-tech manufacturing.
The Coalition: Would introduce a $50 million manufacturing transition grant program over two years. Grants would be available to communities, business and stakeholders to help them transition to competitive industries. It would also restore funding to Export Market Development Grants starting with an initial $50 million boost.
INTERNET-BASED BUSINESSES
Labor: The $44.1 billion National Broadband Network aims for speeds of 1000 megabytes per second (Mbps) or more by 2021.
Coalition: Significantly cheaper at $29.5 billion, but at much lower speeds than those promised by their opponents. Abbott’s broadband pledges at least 25-100 Mbps by 2016 and 50-100 Mbps by 2019.
FRINGE BENEFITS TAX:
Labor: Would axe the fringe benefits tax break employees receive for buying cars though salary sacrifice.
The Coalition: would abandon these planned changes.
BUSINESS OWNERS:
The Coalition would cut the company tax rate by 1.5 per cent from 1 July 2015. But if you run one of the 3200 biggest companies in Australia, the Coalition would impose a 1.5 per cent levy to pay for part of its Paid Parental Leave Scheme.