Deadline Looms On Small Business Tax Proposals

Own a small business and got a thing or two to say about tax? The government wants to hear about it.

"But small businesses only have until 31 October to have their say on the government discussion document 'Making tax easier for small businesses' " says Associate Revenue Minister David Cunliffe

“We want to hear from small businesses and their advisers how they feel about the government's proposals in the discussion document.” Mr Cunliffe said.

It can cost a lot for small businesses to deal with tax matters. So the government has developed proposals to reduce the burden of payroll requirements on small employers, the financial strain that businesses can face at different times in the tax year, and their risk of being exposure to use-of-money interest.

One idea is for the government to cover part of the costs that small businesses wear if they use a payroll agent to take over their PAYE work and government requests for statistical information.

Another idea would see many small businesses making frequent but smaller payments of provisional tax, by paying it when GST is due – in many cases this would be six times a year.

A further idea is for the government to offer a 6.7 per cent tax discount to self-employed people who pay provisional tax in their first year of business.

At the moment they wait to pay tax on first-year income in their second year of business. This would stop the ‘double whammy’ payment happening in their second year.

'Making tax easier for small businesses' is available electronically on www.taxpolicy.ird.govt.nz and www.treasury.govt.nz. A summary of the main proposals is available at www.ird.govt.nz. Paper copies are available by telephoning Inland Revenue’s INFOexpress on 0800 257 477.

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