Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—I move opposition amendments (1) and (2) on sheet 1 to government amendment (2) on sheet UG105 together.

(1) Amendment (2), omit "$20,000 instant", substitute "Instant".

(2) Amendment (2), items 1 to 4, omit the items, substitute:

1 Section 328-180 (heading)

Omit "to30 June 2024".

2 Subsection 328-180(1) (definition of increased access year )

Repeal the definition, substitute:

increased access year: an income year is an increased access year if any day in the year occurs on or after 12 May 2015.

3 Paragraph 328-180(4)(d)

Omit "$20,000", substitute "$30,000".

4 Paragraph 328-180(4)(d)

Omit "and on or before 30 June 2024" (wherever occurring).

5 Paragraph 328-180(5)(e)

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

(e) were a reference to $30,000, if the amount is so included at any time on or after 1 July 2023.

6 Paragraph 328-180(6)(e)

Repeal the paragraph, substitute:

(e) were a reference to $30,000, in relation to a deduction for an income year than ends on or after 1 July 2023.

My amendments will remove schedule 2 from the bill. It strikes at the government's attack on small business, which denies deductibility for the general interest charge and the shortfall interest charge. It will also amend the government amendment on the instant asset tax write-off. Removing deductibility of ATO interest charges on schedule 2 of this bill would deny deductions for ATO interest charges: the general interest charge and shortfall interest charge.

We believe this is another attack on small business. We've seen some 27,000 small and medium businesses close in the last three years. This is another added burden to these businesses at a time when many of them are doing it quite tough. Small businesses at this time can least afford what the government is doing, and that is why I am moving these amendments to remove the schedule.

The current arrangements, which allow for deductibility, take into account the uncertainty of the tax environment and that filed positions can be reviewed well after a tax return is lodged. The policy intent of these existing interest charges is to neutralise the loan benefit that a taxpayer gets due to the late payment of tax. The point of it is to put a taxpayer who is late paying tax in the same position as a taxpayer who has paid tax on time. But making these interest charges non-deductible goes beyond neutralising this loan benefit. It is effectively now an immediate penalty regardless of the debt levels or culpability of the late taxpayer. Denying these deductions is punitive. It risks exacerbating financial hardship for small businesses and their staff, who are already facing challenges, as I said before, such as high inflation, elevated interest rates and cash flow constraints. These businesses are facing record insolvencies, and, instead of tackling this issue, the government is hammering the small businesses again.

The government's proposed schedule 4 of the bill continues Labor's attempts to decimate the instant asset tax write-off. As I've said before, the instant asset tax write-off was previously pretty well unlimited during COVID but has now wound down to $20,000 and is not even ongoing. It should be ongoing. It should be standard business procedure for any small and family business in Australia that the instant asset tax write-off becomes permanent—100 per cent. And $20,000—I mean, you can't buy a vehicle; there are very few items you can buy with $20,000. Labor's proposal would limit the instant asset write-off to that $20,000 and not make it permanent.

The government has consistently been slow to provide certainty on the instant asset tax write-off, and this leaves small businesses in limbo and faced with uncertainty when they invest in their business. The coalition 100 per cent supports SMEs, and we're committed to lower, simpler, fairer taxes for Australia's 2.5 million small businesses. The coalition's position, as outlined in this year's budget-in-reply, is to extend the value of the assets eligible and to make this deduction permanent.

I would love to lift it way higher. As far as I'm concerned it should be $150,000-plus for an instant asset tax write-off. But the additional spending of the government—some $350 billion plus on top of the last budget that Josh Frydenberg handed down—makes it difficult right now to lift it beyond $30,000. People will have to wait; hopefully a coalition government is elected very soon, under the leadership of Peter Dutton, and we will have to wait for the taxes to come in as businesses improve. As businesses get more confidence and we see more company tax come in and income taxes go up, that's when we'll be able to, at some stage in the future, hopefully lift it beyond $30,000. But, right now, $20,000 and not making it permanent is a disgrace, and it shows how little the Albanese Labor government regard small and family businesses.

The coalition is serious about providing that lifeline, and I call on the government to support my amendment. It's not a big ask. As I said, we haven't made it $150,000, or unlimited, as it was previously; we've just lifted it from $20,000 to $30,000; it's not a big increase, and it's something the government should consider. You'd have bipartisan support to do that before the upcoming election.

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