Wednesday, August 21, 2013

What’s a ‘small business’?


As a small business operator, you may be entitled to access a number of tax concessions targeted at small business, which we have discussed from time to time in our newsletters.
Currently, one of the first hurdles we have to get over is trying to work out whether your business is in fact a ‘small business’ for the purposes of a particular concession.

In this regard, each concession has different entry eligibility criteria, usually based on varying levels of turnover and/or assets.

This is confusing because what represents a ‘small business’ changes from concession to concession. It can be a costly and time consuming exercise working all this out. However, there is some relief on the horizon.

Late last year, the Treasurer and Minister for Small Business announced that legislation will be introduced hopefully to make access to these concessions easier and less costly for small business.

The eligibility tests that currently exist for the Simplified Tax System, Capital Gains Tax, Fringe Benefits Tax, Goods and Services Tax and Pay-As-You-Go small business concessions will be standardised.