Payroll Tax Reform

The Stanhope Government’s announcement this week of reform to the payroll tax legislation is good news for Canberra businesses.

The new legislation makes amendments in the following areas:

• Exempts businesses from payroll tax for wages paid in the ACT for employees who work in another country for a continuous period of six months or more

• Adopts exemption rates for motor vehicle allowances and accommodation allowances linked with those set annually by the Australian Tax Office for income deduction purposes

• Adopts a single gross-up factor for the purpose of calculating the amount to be taken as wages for payroll tax purposes of benefits that attract a Fringe Benefits Tax liability; and

• Adopts the NSW and Victorian grouping provisions.

This means it will be easier for businesses to operate across State and Territory borders and will help streamline administration and reduce compliance costs.

The legislation completes the Government’s commitment to harmonising payroll tax provisions across the country as agreed last year by State and Territory Treasurers.

Progressive Business

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about what makes a successful business. As an owner of a company in Canberra, I’m always on the lookout for other successful operations, the factors that contribute to their success and how we might adapt similar successful strategies.

Take one of our competitors in the business services market. They are young, both in company age and the age of the directors, they come from successful careers in larger organisations, they understand what it takes to sell to the Federal and ACT governments and they have developed a successful brand that is well known and trusted.

All of these elements are important but there is one key factor missing: people.

What really sets a company apart from its competitors? The quality of the team – their training, education and emotional intelligence; their awareness and ability to take ownership of outcomes.

And how does a company like this treat its staff? It nurtures them, providing ongoing training and industry certifications, and not just in their particular field of expertise, but in important general areas such as work-life balance, negotiation and communication skills, teamwork and attention to quality. A company like this allows staff a huge degree of flexibility for supporting families and friends. Staff can pick up the kids when they need to or take their kids to the doctor or the dentist. And importantly, this flexibility provides support to the kids’ mums. No longer are these roles the sole domain of mums. Dads in the workplace can get more actively involved by being part of the day to day lives of their kids. And that can only be a good thing for everyone.

And how can a successful business allow this? By focusing on outcomes, planning carefully and engendering trust in their staff. By treating staff as colleagues not workers.

It’s a progressive approach to business that leads to high reward. An inside-out approach that generates significant revenue and profit while providing great careers and support for a wide range of people. And what do the owners do with the profit? They plunge it back into the company, supporting yet more initiatives to help grow a prosperous and sustainable future for them and their staff, their families and the extended community.

The ACT government can assist with this successful approach, by supporting programs for business that don’t just hand out money, but put in place a platform for businesses to adapt to this way of supporting and managing. To provide the skills and training needed to create a progressive business, for the benefit of all Canberrans.