Business owners will face an added end of financial year compliance burden when the Federal Flood Levy is installed on 1 July, according to leading accounting software provider MYOB.
Over the next year, businesses will have to calculate some of the 24 new payroll schedules (for the Levy), as well as the indexation changes to the Higher Education Contribution Scheme, Higher Education Loan Program, Student Financial Supplement Scheme and the Medicare Levy. PAYG employers must also account for low income tax offset changes.
MYOB CEO Tim Reed said the Federal Government is complicating life for business owners.
“Aussie business owners don’t go into business to do administrative reports for the Government. If they thought the carbon tax was going to lose votes, try explaining to more than two million business owners why their paperwork will increase substantially from 1 July,” he said.
Reed said the ATO has passed the burden of the Flood Levy administration to family businesses. At the same time, the Federal Treasurer won’t be decreasing sovereign debt this year so pressure on interest rates will increase.
The Flood Levy will go a long way to help rebuild Queensland and disaster affected communities, but “adding multiple new payroll scales will not win the ATO or the Federal Government any friends in the business community,” Reed added.
MYOB has issued a ‘How the 1st July Tax Changes Will Affect Your Business’ guide, updated their products to comply with the new regulations and advised all employers to discuss the compliance measures with their accountants.
MYOB is now calling on the Federal Government to provide legislative certainty in the upcoming October Tax Summit. It said this will ease the financial reporting headache for employers and according to Reed, “the business community will reward them with a solution to the two speed economy”.
