Home topics news Image credit: NORTHFOLK on Unsplash News News Vic budget: Tax relief for SMEs, pressure on large retailers Yajush Gupta May 23, 2023 The government is implementing measures to make payroll taxes more equitable for businesses. The payroll tax‐free threshold currently stands at $700,000, which is deemed insufficient. In an effort to better support small businesses throughout the state, starting from July 1, 2024, the tax‐free threshold will be raised to $900,000. Moreover, a subsequent increase to $1 million will be from July 1, 2025. These reforms are expected to benefit approximately 26,000 businesses in Victoria, potentially saving them up to $14,550 per year. Notably, around 6,000 of these businesses will no longer be required to pay payroll tax at all. These advantages will gradually phase out for larger businesses to ensure that the assistance is effectively targeted. Goodbye to insurance duty The government aims to reduce the financial burden on businesses by abolishing business insurance duty, making Victoria the first state in Australia to do so. The rate of insurance duty on various types of insurance, including fire and industrial special risks, public and product liability, professional indemnity, employer’s liability, and marine and aviation insurance, will be gradually reduced by one percentage point each year, beginning on July 1, 2024. These reforms have the potential to save businesses approximately $3,200 on professional indemnity insurance and $2,400 on fire and other special risk insurance over a cumulative period of 10 years. In addition to these measures, the government