SMEs positive on Federal Budget measures

Australian small business owners have reacted positively to key measures introduced in the recent Federal Budget, new research from MYOB reveals. Over half (56 per cent) of small businesses believe that lowering the company tax rate to 27.5 per cent for businesses with up to $10 million in revenue will  have a positive impact.

The latest SME Snapshot also found that SMEs support increasing the instant tax write-off eligibility to include businesses generating up to $10 million in revenue. The survey found that 50 per cent of small businesses believe this eligibility increase would benefit their business.

“While this year’s budget has come under fire for favouring big business, the results show that the majority of Australian SMEs believe that lowering the company tax rate is an important reform and will encourage growth.  For every dollar a small business spends with a big business, big businesses spend $2 with small businesses – it is an ecosystem and we need to make sure all parts are healthy,” said Tim Reed, CEO of MYOB. 

The survey also revealed that 72 per cent of SMEs agreed growth would be encouraged through widening the definition of a small business. Tim Reed believes this move will result in SMEs feeling less restrained when it comes to planning for business success.

“It’s encouraging to see these barriers to growth removed. The previous system discouraged SMEs to grow beyond $2 million in revenue because they lose the benefits of being a small business. Small businesses often rely on bigger businesses as customers – without stimulating investment in bigger business, small businesses won’t receive the positive flow on effect,” said Mr Reed.

In this month’s survey, small businesses were also asked if they were in favour of the reduction in GST codes from seven to three as part of the government’s BAS simplification trial. Not surprisingly, almost half of the businesses surveyed (47 per cent) were in favour of the new measure.

Youth Jobs PaTH – Prepare, Trial, Hire

SMEs were also asked how likely they would be to employ someone under the age of 25 years through the Federal Government’s new PaTH initiative. Encouragingly, almost a third of SMEs (31 per cent) confirmed they were likely or very likely to consider hiring a job seeker through this program. Younger business owners, aged under 40 years, were more likely (58 per cent) to use the program to hire young people.

“I believe we all should be very encouraged by these results. If just a small portion of Australia’s 2M SMEs took part in this new initiative and consider hiring a young Australian it will be a big success. There are nearly a quarter of a million young Australians out of work, so it is great to see SMEs becoming part of the solution to youth unemployment.

“With millennials set to define the future of the Australian workforce, we encourage small businesses to be a part of this internship program, and do what they can to create opportunities for the younger generation,” said Mr Reed.

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For further comment or other information please contact:

Saba Chowdhury, MYOB PR Manager

M: +61 400 300 913 / E: saba.chowdhury@myob.com

Louise Halloran, Account Manager, Ogilvy PR

P: 02 8437 5357 / M: +61 407 044 727 / E: louise.halloran@ogilvy.com.au

About MYOB

MYOB Group Ltd (ASX: MYO) is a leading cloud based business management solutions provider. It makes business life easier for approximately 1.2 million businesses across Australia and New Zealand by simplifying accounting, payroll, tax, practice management, CRM, job costing, inventory and more. MYOB provides ongoing support via many client service channels including a network of over 40,000 accountants, bookkeepers and other consultants. It is committed to ongoing innovation, particularly in cloud computing solutions, and in 2015 was awarded the BRW award for the most innovative large company for 500+ employees and placed 2nd in BRW’s Most Innovative Companies Award list across all categories nationally.  For more information, visit http://investors.myob.com.au/Investors or follow @MYOB on Twitter.

About the MYOB SME Snapshot

First carried out in July 2015, the MYOB Snapshot is a monthly online survey of a section of MYOB’s 1.2 million customers. The survey provides the opportunity to quiz SMEs about topical issues and their responses to business conditions.