THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell is calling on banks to make “least cost routing” available to small business as a matter of urgency.

Ms Carnell said small businesses would benefit if banks adopted least cost routing, sending tap-and-go payments via the cheapest payment pathway to limit the costs incurred by merchants.

“Australian banks have been doing some good work to support small businesses throughout the COVID-19 crisis,” Ms Carnell said.

“Banks have an opportunity to build on this now, by making least cost routing readily available to small businesses for tap-and-go payments.

"It’s estimated about $30 million in extra fees were paid by merchants during March, due to banks directing debit card contactless payments to global companies such as Visa and Mastercard.

“For too long, small businesses have been slugged with unnecessarily high fees from credit card networks, when there is a cheaper option,” Ms Carnell said.

“This is particularly unfair when many small businesses are trying to get back on their feet, with coronavirus restrictions lifting.

“Small businesses are being disproportionally hit by fees, with larger retailers able to bypass full fees by using payment systems directly or by having the market power to negotiate least cost routing with their banks," Ms Carnell said

“There has been plenty of time for the banks to implement these changes. It has been two years since the major banks were directed by Federal Parliamentary committees to embed least cost routing in the merchant services plans they advertise to retailers.

“The banks need to do the right thing by Australian small businesses in this economic crisis and deliver least cost routing as a universal service.

“As of July, Eftpos has announced it will cut the standard wholesale interchange fee paid by small businesses in half to 2 cents for tap-and-go transactions that are routed to Eftpos. Roll-out of least cost routing should be a priority for the banks.” 

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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THE Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) is warning the community and businesses to take extra care when seeking assistance in accessing the Federal Government’s COVID-19 stimulus measures.

This follows the identification of a growing number of complaints and intelligence about fraudsters posing as tax experts, providing misleading advice and support relating to COVID-19 stimulus benefits, often provided on a ‘no benefit – no fee’ basis.

The arrangements are often promoted through social media channels, claim to offer advice and support along with unnecessary services in a subscription or locked-in contract. Some of these arrangements involve businesses with thousands of clients. T

he organisations involved may claim that the advice being provided is ‘assured’ by a registered tax agent. That advice may be incorrect and breach the Tax Agent Services Act (TASA).

The TPB will prioritise investigations into organisations who have been involved in such conduct.

Often, an agreement may require the client to provide personal or confidential information including Tax File Numbers or MyGov ID logins. Unregistered service providers however, often have poor IT and security controls and are susceptible to identity theft.

TPB chair, Ian Klug said, "We are investigating organisations operating in this way to establish how, and which, services are being provided and whether they are in contravention of the law.

"We are concerned about protecting the consumers of taxation services as we know the accuracy of the advice given by unregistered agents is not reliable and there is no safe way to ‘assure’ advice by an unregistered tax adviser simply by involving a registered agent on the fringe of the business. Incorrect advice may prevent the full amount of the benefit from reaching its intended recipients.

"Also, incorrectly received benefits may have to be repaid and recipients may be liable for penalties and interest."

TPB is urging community to check whether their tax practitioner is registered on the public register at www.tpb.gov.au/onlineregister and follow the TPB’s tips when seeking taxation or COVID-19 stimulus advice.

Mr Klug said, "If you are not a registered practitioner and your business is engaged in providing advice or services related to any of the COVID-19 stimulus benefits such as Jobkeeper, Cash Boost or Early Release from Super, you are in breach of the TASA and may be liable for a civil penalty imposed by the Federal Court."

Any small business or individual unwittingly caught up in unfair contracts with businesses offering ‘assured’ tax services should seek legal advice.

If buisness leaders become aware of a potential scam or unregistered tax practitioner, report the situation to the TPB either This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by calling 1300 362 829 (select option 5). All reports will be treated in the strictest confidence, Mr Klug said.

About the Tax Practitioners Board

The Tax Practitioners Board regulates tax practitioners in order to protect consumers. The TPB aims to assure the community that tax practitioners meet appropriate standards of professional and ethical conduct. Twitter @TPB_gov_au, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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THE CO2 Cooperative Research Centre (CO2CRC) has welcomed the Federal Government’s embrace of science and technology as the pathway to accelerating low emissions technologies and its identification of carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) as a priority low emissions technology.

CO2CRC chief executive, David Byers said the Technology Investment Roadmap provided a "powerful endorsement of the potential for CCUS to play a vital role in meeting the dual challenge of supplying more energy but with fewer emissions".

Mr Byers said, “As International Energy Agency executive director, Dr Fatih Birol declared earlier this year: ‘When we consider the scale of the energy and climate challenge, the critical importance of carbon capture is inescapable.’

“In that context, Australia is well-placed to be a world leader in CCUS. Recent project activity demonstrates to the nation that CCUS is not a dream for the future but a reality today,” Mr Byers said.

“The world’s largest commercial-scale carbon dioxide injection project commenced in August 2019 at Gorgon LNG on Barrow Island, off the northwest coast of WA. Gorgon is now progressively ramping up to full capacity of up to 4Mtpa of safe and permanent storage of CO₂. 

“Santos is at an advanced stage of examining a large-scale commercial carbon capture and storage (CCS) project to be located in the Cooper Basin with a scalable potential to store up to 20 Mtpa of CO₂ per year.

 “The launch of the Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain pilot project in Victoria has been another leap forward for CCUS in Australia. The CarbonNet Project is investigating the feasibility for a commercial-scale, multi-user CCUS network in Gippsland that will inject CO₂ -- including that ultimately produced from commercial-scale hydrogen production -- into deep underground, offshore storage sites in Bass Strait. In January, CarbonNet reached an exciting phase with the conclusion of a successful offshore drilling appraisal well at the Pelican site.

“Finally, COAL21 is examining the development of a commercial scale CCUS project in Queensland’s Surat Basin with a final investment decision to begin construction of a $150 million carbon capture plant at the Millmerran Power Station scheduled for later this year.

“Together, this project activity demonstrates once again that CCUS is not experimental – it is a proven technology, currently being deployed, storing millions of tons of CO₂. On a global scale, more than 200 million tonnes of CO₂ have been captured and injected deep underground since the 1970s. One project - the Sleipner CCS operation in Norway has separated and injected about one million tonnes of CO₂ per year since 1996," Mr Byers said.

“Today, 19 large scale CCS facilities are operating globally and another four are in construction.

The challenge is to continue to improve the cost-effectiveness of CCUS and develop the right policy settings for further investment.  

“The value of CCUS is its versatility as a technology. Its applications extend to industrial processes such as cement, iron and steel. Emissions in these sectors are hard to abate due to inherent process emissions and high temperature heat requirements.

"Earlier this month, Equinor, Shell and Total signed off on the Northern Lights Project - a plan to build a carbon capture network that will capture 5 million tonnes of CO₂ per year from various industrial sites including a major Norwegian cement production plant and a large waste to energy plant in Oslo. CO₂ emissions will be transported via ship and pipeline to an offshore storage reservoir in the Northern North Sea. Final go ahead for the project is subject to Norwegian Government investment and regulatory approvals,” he said. 

Mr Byers also highlighted the $194 billion export value of Australia’s coal, LNG and iron-ore resources in 2018-19.

“It is in Australia’s national interest to take advantage of all our natural energy resource endowments to enhance economic prosperity. CCUS has an important and unique role to play in reducing emissions from industrial processes vital to Australia’s economy like gas processing, steel and cement production

“CCUS can play a vital role in helping Australia achieve continued economic prosperity while meeting international emissions reductions commitments. The reality is that, over the long-term, there is unlikely to be a cost-effective emissions reduction response without CCUS.

"As the Technology Investment Roadmap points out, Australia is also well-placed to leverage its CCUS scientific and industry knowledge and experience to help neighbours in the Asia-Pacific region meet their low emissions targets.” he said.

www.co2crc.com.au

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DREAMWORLD today welcomed the joint announcement by Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, and State Development, Tourism and Innovation Minister Kate Jones of an extra $50 million to help support the tourism industry and, in particular, the state's iconic theme parks.

“There is no doubt the past few months have been incredibly difficult for all Australians and our industry has certainly experienced this as well," Dreamworld chief executive officer, John Osborne said.

"A cash injection of the kind described in the announcement by the Premier and Minister Jones is most welcomed and will greatly assist us as we move into the post COVID-19 environment," Mr Osborne said.

“We are pleased the government has recognised the significant role our parks play in both the tourism and local economies, and Dreamworld looks forward to working with the government to ensure our businesses recover, unite and grow stronger post COVID-19."

www.dreamworld.com.au

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