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This was published 5 years ago
Small business MYEFO wishlist: write offs, talent acquisition
By Emma Koehn
The push is on for the government's mid year economic outlook to make its small business instant asset write-off scheme permanent and refocus conversations on vocational education and training.
Ahead of Monday's MYEFO statement, small business and startup stakeholders say while the federal focus on their sectors over the past couple of months has been welcome, some policy areas have been neglected.
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg will hand down the MYEFO document for 2018 on Monday. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Small business owners want an extension of the popular small business $20,000 instant asset write-off scheme or for the government to make it permanent, rather than waiting until the 2019 budget to make a call on this.
There have been a number of extensions to the policy since its introduction more than three years ago and Council of Small Business Australia chief Peter Strong says this is the perfect time to take it off the table by making the policy permanent.
"It would be really great to see that come through," Strong says.
Accounting experts believe it is likely the government will move on the policy, with BDO Tax partner Mark Molesworth predicting the extension could be announced as "a stocking stuffer for SMEs".
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg would not be drawn on whether there would be an extension to the scheme beyond June 2019, but said the government's extension of the policy to this point indicates its "strong record of supporting small businesses".
"Supporting small businesses is part of our plan for a stronger economy. By growing small businesses, we grow their ability to reinvest and employ more Australians."
Research and training key
Training, recruitment and research policies are also top of wishlists in the small business and startup community this year.
Strong says that while the federal government has moved on issues like payment times and mental health this year, there's still room for policy signals on vocational training.
"The vocational education and training area is still huge for us, and the lack of impact that the Jobactive service and apprenticeship services have," Strong says.
The government should signal possible policies on supporting apprenticeships before the end of the year, because high drop out rates in sectors like hairdressing are affecting recruitment, he says.
"There should be an incentive to help apprenticeships finish what they’re doing."
Chief executive of global investing app Stake, Matt Leibowitz wants more government focus on global talent.
Chief executive of global share trading app Stake, Matt Leibowitz, says the government should also focus on startup recruitment policies before the end of the year.
"The government grants you money if you market overseas, but they don’t give you a grant to bring talent to Australia," he says.
Any incentives for startups to bring local talent onshore would help Stake keep operations in Australia. Access to competitive talent is key as the $500,000 business looks to scale, but recruitment of global staff is pricey.
"I spend a lot of time on recruitment and I'm always looking for great talent... but it's quite expensive to bring great talent here."
R&D clarification needed
StartupAus is hoping for further conversation on the research and development tax incentive scheme before the year is out.
StartupAus chief operating officer, Alex Gruszka.
"For us, it’s less about changing the policy as it is protecting the role for software developers. It feels like software is falling out of that definition [of research and development]," StartupAus chief operating officer Alex Gruszka says.
StartupAus made ten key recommendations as part of its 2018 Crossroads report, including establishing a national entrepreneurship academy.
But on the whole, Gruszka says both sides of politics are supportive of the startup space, and issues like the R&D incentive are usually "communications issues" for startups and government to work through.