Tag: Australian Carbon Tax Details

If you’re a small business intending to pass on the costs of the carbon tax to your customers and suppliers, you’d better be careful about it.

The Gillard Government’s carbon tax legislation has passed through Parliament, making it certain a tax of $23 per tonne of carbon on the country’s 500 worst polluters will begin in 2012, and businesses aren’t happy.

“It’s been a difficult debate but the debate is now concluded,” Prime Minister Julia Gillard said yesterday as the climate change bills were passed in the lower house of Parliament.

Accountants are expressing concern that the financial performance of their small business clients are being put in danger by the carbon tax, with many convinced SMBs won’t be adequately compensated by the Government when the tax is implemented.

Retailers remain concerned about the impact of the carbon tax, with a survey revealing 83 percent expect the tax will mean consumers spend less and an even larger number reporting it will have a negative impact on profitability.

The Australian Workers’ Union (AWU) has placed its support behind Julia Gillard’s carbon tax, saying in a meeting yesterday no jobs need to be lost as a result of the scheme.

The Federal Government has granted additional funding to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), to assist it in cracking down on businesses that gouge customers by making misleading carbon claims.

More clarity is needed around the Government’s carbon price policy, according to the Institute of Public Accountants (IPA), especially around the impact it will have on the 2 million Australian SMEs.

Consumer sentiment fell 8.3 percent in July, to levels not seen since May 2009, thanks to uncertainty about the carbon tax, concerns over the European financial crisis and the ongoing impact of seven rate rises between October 2009 and November 2010.

Although Julia Gillard detailed small business exemptions when she announced the carbon price on Sunday, convenience stores say the tax will mean they’ll be faced with greater costs – either to be passed on to consumers or absorbed at the expense of profitability.