Small businesses are an important part of the economy and key constituents in policy development, but are often overlooked by the Government when big ticket policies are rolled out, according to The Institute of Public Accountants (IPA).
One such policy is the Stronger Super reforms, and the IPA said it holds grave concerns about the impact downplaying the role of small business will have on the sector.
“Minister Shorten has publicly acknowledged the contribution of the big end of town represented by ACCI and the union movement, yet leaves to the end a short statement of being “mindful of the implementation” problems being faced by small business,” IPA Chief Executive Andrew Conway said.
“This is not good enough. Small business is this nation’s biggest employer yet the administration impact falls squarely on the shoulders of struggling small business.”
The Institute believes that the concerns of small business need to be front of mind to the Government when developing policies, in particular, ones that place an additional administration burden.
The IPA said the small business community doesn’t have the resources or budget to develop e-commerce solutions to address the additional requirements of the Stronger Super reforms.
“Rather than setting an arbitrary date of 1 July 2015, the Government should commit to not forcing these changes on small business until such time that the administrative costs of the superannuation system are removed from small business,” it said.
It’s now calling on the Government to be mindful of the already struggling small business sector.
