THERE IS mounting evidence that small businesses are bearing an unfair higher share of rising electricity prices.

LEADER of the Opposition, Bill Shorten MP, has been confirmed to speak at the Vodafone National Small Business Summit, hosted by the Council of Small Business Australia (COSBOA) taking place at the Events Centre Collins Square, Melbourne on 23-25 August 2017.

Mr Shorten will open the Summit Breakfast on Friday, 25 August and discuss current issues facing more than two million small businesses across Australia.

Peter Strong, CEO of COSBOA commented on the privilege to host Mr Shorten at Australia’s premier policy event discussing the current and future needs of small business owners.

“We are honoured to welcome Mr Shorten to speak at the Vodafone National Small Business Summit for the third year. 

“In 2017 the Summit will focus on ‘Collaboration and Communities’ and discuss how senior politicians, policy makers and industry leaders can come together to build and strengthen partnerships and secure the future of small business growth in Australia,” said Mr Strong.

Program highlights include:

Small Business Banking and Finance, with:

• Hon. Philip Dalidakis, Minister for Small Business, Innovation and Trade
• Kate Carnell, Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman
• Anna Bligh, CEO, Australian Bankers' Association
• David Gandolfo, Deputy Chair, COSBOA

Big and Small Working Together, with:

• Jennifer Westacott, Chief Executive, Business Council of Australia
• Grant King, President, Business Council of Australia
• Paul Nielsen, Director and Chairperson, COSBOA

Our Regulators – Can Their Jobs be Easier and Will That Make Our Jobs Easier?  with: 

• John Price, Commissioner, Australian Securities and Investments Commission
• Natalie James, Fair Work Ombudsman
• Dr Michael Shaper, Deputy Chair, Australian Competition and Consumer Commission

Export Opportunities And Other Business Via The Web, with:

• Richard Flanagan, Head of Business Marketing, Google Australia and New Zealand

The Role of Business Associations in Modern Society, with:

• Justice Iain Ross, President, Fair Work Commission
• Sandy Chong, CEO, Australian Hairdressing Council and Director, COSBOA
• John Hart, Executive Director, Restaurant & Catering Australia
• Julie Owens MP, Shadow Assistant Minister for Small Business

Registrations are open for the Vodafone National Small Business Summit. For more information please visit: www.cosboansbs.com.au

To celebrate the commencement of the Summit, Small Business owners are invited to attend the Small Business Start-Up Reception from 6pm-8pm on Wednesday, 23 August 2017. The event will provide an opportunity for owners to hear from Peter Strong, CEO of COSBOA and network with industry leaders and key decision makers. A panel on the evening will highlight the next generation of employers and innovators and discuss what more our education system can do to support entrepreneurship.

THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has announced Radek Sali of Swisse as keynote speaker at the 2017 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards next week.

The eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards are the retail industry’s longest running recognition of success, and this year will take place at the Great Hall, National Gallery of Victoria in front of 550 retailers on August 3 in Melbourne.

Radek Sali is an accomplished leader of international business, having made his mark as CEO of household name Swisse in his early thirties. Radek is credited to have led Swisse through rapid growth in product lines, stockists and revenue, and initiated one of Australia’s largest ever licencing deals with PGT, with plans to launch Swisse in over 30 countries in three years across Europe and Asia.

Russell Zimmerman, ARA Executive Director, said the Awards Breakfast is an opportunity for all Australian retailers to come together to celebrate the success of their peers, network, and learn from other’s experience.

The 2017 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards will also be hosted by esteemed ABC journalist Beverley O’Connor.

“To have Radek on board to share the journey and learnings behind his success is a real advantage, and Beverley will only add to the atmosphere of celebration and industry support we expect the 2017 Awards to provide to retailers,” Mr Zimmerman said.

With the Top 20 retailers already shortlisted for the coveted 2017 Retailer of the Year Award, tickets to attend the 2017 Awards Breakfast have already sold out, so keep your eyes peeled for the winners to be announced post event.

About the eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards

First held in the 1970s, the eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards are the nation’s longest running and most prestigious retail event, recognising and rewarding outstanding retail businesses, innovations, and individuals across all sectors of retail. Relaunched in 2008, the annual 2017 eftpos ARA Australian Retail Awards breakfast will commence on Thursday 3 August at Melbourne’s National Gallery of Victoria.

About the Australian Retailers Association

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $310 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 7,500 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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THE Select Committee on Regional Development and Decentralisation is calling for submissions to its inquiry.  The Committee will examine best practice approaches to regional development, the decentralisation of Commonwealth entities, and supporting corporate decentralisation.

Committee Chair, Dr John McVeigh MP said, “The Committee’s inquiry is wide ranging and will explore ways to increase the growth and prosperity of regional and rural Australia.  While decentralisation of Commonwealth entities has been identified as a potential means to achieve this, the Committee wants to examine, more broadly, how public and private investment can assist in building and sustaining our regional communities.

 “So much of our economic success rests in the resources and work of our regional towns and cities. It is important that we examine ways to better support these communities and to strengthen their social and economic future.”

The Committee plans to hold public hearings across regional Australia to learn more about best practice approaches to regional development, and decentralisation opportunities.

Submissions to the inquiry will close on Friday 15 September 2017.  To make a submission, visit the Committee’s website and follow the prompts. The Terms of Reference can also be found on the Committee’s website, or by contacting the Committee Secretariat.

An issues paper is expected to be tabled in Parliament on 31 August 2017.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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THE Institute of Public Accountants (IPA) has called for greater accountability from the ATO in light of the ongoing technology issues that have significantly impacted accountants and small businesses across Australia.

“The IPA has constantly heard the plea of our members who have suffered ongoing IT issues with the ATO,” said IPA chief executive officer, Andrew Conway.

“We know that the ATO is doing whatever it can to rectify the failing functionality of its IT systems but apologies do not undo the pain that it is inflicting.

“While some of our members have called for compensation, we are realistic in our expectations.  However, it should be recognised that accountants and tax agents have worn the brunt of this issue over many years.

“Whilst clients of tax practitioners are generally not disadvantaged, very little concessions are granted to the tax practitioners themselves.

“To give context to the significance of this issue, 74 percent of taxpayers go to a tax agent to look after their affairs and 95 percent for businesses.  Consequently, our members do the heavy lifting and are reliant on the ATO systems to service their clients.

“While the ATO is pursuing a digital by default strategy, stakeholders need systems available 24/7.

“As a result of the ongoing system issues, our members have experienced reputational damage with their clients along with loss of productivity.  These factors play a big part in the status of their mental health and wellbeing.

“When critical systems go down, client appointments get cancelled, support staff lay idle and backlogs start piling up.  When there is a major outage, everything grinds to a halt.

“We believe there should be a service commitment from the ATO; an agreement where there are specified and agreed service levels and if those service levels are not met, penalties should apply. This would be akin to arrangements that operate in the commercial world with critical service providers.

“Our members are subjected to key performance benchmarks when it comes to lodgements so it is not unreasonable to ask that the ATO has its own benchmark to improve accountability around IT service delivery,” said Mr Conway.

publicaccountants.org.au

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THE House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts will conduct a public hearing in Melbourne this week as part of its inquiry into factors contributing to the growth and sustainability of Australia’s film and television industry.

The Chair of the committee, Mr Luke Howarth MP, stated that ‘we will be hearing the perspectives of the Victorian Government and other agencies and businesses based in Melbourne.’

‘The Committee looks forward to discussing the challenges and opportunities facing our film and television industry with these key participants’ added Mr Howarth.

Public hearing details: 9.15am-3.30pm, Wednesday, 26 July 2017,
Meeting Room G6, Victorian Parliament Offices, Ground Floor, 55 St Andrews Place, 
East Melbourne

9.15am       Victorian Government
10.00am     Entertainment Assist
10.45am     Village Roadshow Limited
11.45am     Victorian Film & Television Industry Working Party
12.15pm     Iloura
1.30pm       Studio Moshi
2.00pm       Melbourne International Film Festival
2.30pm       White Hot Productions Pty Ltd
3.00pm       Australian Children's Television Foundation
3.30pm        Finish

The hearing will be broadcast live at aph.gov.au/live.

Interested members of the public may wish to track the committee via the website. 

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CHARTERED Accountants Australia and New Zealand has called on the Australian Labor Party to embrace indirect tax reform if it is to develop the sustainable tax base necessary to pay for the many important social investments outlined by Opposition Leader Bill Shorten in his speech today (July 30).

Head of Tax, Michael Croker, said Chartered Accountants ANZ would continue to advocate for a broad base, low rate personal tax system, with greater reliance on indirect taxes such as GST and stronger measures to address tax evaded in the black economy.

Mr Croker noted Mr Shorten’s references to inequality but expressed disappointment over the lack of a comprehensive plan to tackle this issue by more broadly reforming Australia’s tax and transfer payment systems.

“What we’re seeing from the major parties is a piecemeal approach, with a bit of extra income tax tacked on here and a specific deduction denied there,” Mr Croker said.

“The message conveyed is that something is being done to someone else to tax them more heavily.

“Meanwhile, Australia’s income tax system remains dangerously over-reliant on PAYG collected from Australians in the top tax brackets and company tax paid by a comparatively small group of large companies.”

Nonetheless, Chartered Accountants ANZ had already spoken to Andrew Leigh’s office and offered to work with the ALP to flesh-out its 30 percent minimum tax proposal for discretionary trusts before the next Federal Election.

“Today’s speech and accompanying Fact Sheet are light on specifics for a legitimate structure used widely for business, personal investment and family purposes,” Mr Croker said.

“Accountants and their clients seek certainty, particularly when new policies impact existing structures established in accordance with laws now described by those who enacted them as unfair.

“There are already a number of emerging questions about Labor’s model”, he said.

They include:

•   The equity of treating active small businesses differently from farmers.

•   Addressing the potential for over-taxation (compared to the tax outcome if the beneficiary simply derived the income directly), particularly for business trusts.

•   Restructuring relief for those who may wish to exit discretionary trust structures.

•   The scope of carve-outs for farm trusts, testamentary, disability and charitable trusts.

Mr Croker said Labor’s minimum tax would start many conversations, and said there could be concern in some quarters that minimum tax might be embraced for other taxpayer segments.

He said Chartered Accountants in Australia would be disappointed by the disparaging references to their profession in Mr Shorten’s speech today.

“With his parliamentary and ministerial experience, Mr Shorten knows better than most the role CAs play in helping Australians and businesses prosper. He would also know that Chartered Accountants ANZ is a highly trusted contributor to consultation forums established by government and regulatory agencies such as the ATO, advocating in the public interest.” 

www.charteredaccountantsanz.com

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AUSTRALIA’s aviation industry – including manufacturers and service companies – now has easier and cheaper access to the lucrative United States aviation market, after the signing of amendments to the bilateral aviation agreement.

Federal Minister for Infrastructure and Transport Darren Chester said the amendments would be a significant benefit to Australian aviation parts and products designers and manufacturers. Mr Chester said the changes would also benefit Australian companies and individuals who export aircraft and aircraft products to the US.

“There are more than 40 Australian aviation design organisations and more than 80 aviation production organisations that will have lower costs and less red tape when exporting to the US market,” Mr Chester said.

“A range of Australian design and manufacturing approvals will now be accepted in the US without the need for additional and sometimes costly work.

“People and organisations wanting to sell their aircraft into the US should have fewer regulatory hurdles to contend with.

“These amendments save money and streamline regulatory requirements without in any way compromising safety standards.

“I know that many large and small aviation organisations have been eagerly awaiting these changes so they can make greater inroads into the huge US aviation market.”

The amendments have been made to the Implementation Procedures on Airworthiness made under the Bilateral Aviation Safety Agreement between Australian and the US.

www.infrastructure.gov.au/transport

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