The Chairman of the Board of Taxation, Mr Richard Warburton, today welcomed the Assistant Treasurer’s announcement of the release of the Board’s scoping study of small business tax compliance costs.
The Board was asked to identify the key factors that influence small business compliance costs and provide some guidance on the issues that should be considered in reducing compliance costs for small business. The scoping study identifies areas where there might be opportunities to reduce compliance costs further.
The study confirms that compliance costs have a proportionately greater impact on smaller businesses than on larger businesses and that these compliance obligations appear to have been growing over time. As the small business sector is a key contributor to growth and employment, reducing small business compliance costs is vital to the Australian economy.
The Board’s report draws heavily on input from small businesses and tax agents who gave freely of their time to improve its understanding of the factors influencing compliance costs.
The Chairman expressed his thanks to those who contributed to the scoping study including the individuals and organisations that participated in the Board’s consultation meetings, members of the Board’s working group, officers of the Office of Small Business, the Australian Taxation Office, the Treasury and the staff of the Board’s Secretariat.
The report is available from the Board’s website at www.taxboard.gov.au. Printed versions of the paper are available by email request sent to taxboard@treasury.gov.au, or by phoning Ms Belinda Black on (02) 6263 4364.