Parliamentary Speeches
PAY-ROLL TAX AMENDMENT (SUPPORTING JOBS AND SMALL BUSINESS) BILL ( 19/10/2006)
Mr DONALD PAGE (Ballina—Deputy Leader of The Nationals) [11.22 a.m.]: The Pay-roll Tax Amendment (Supporting Jobs and Small Business) Bill, introduced by the honourable member for Southern Highlands, is a commendable bill and one I support fully. As the honourable member for Ballina in northern New South Wales, I see firsthand the negative effects that the State Labor Government's current payroll tax regime is having on livelihoods in the business community. Business owners are opting to move their operations north of the border and into Queensland, where the payroll tax-free threshold currently stands at $850,000, or $250,000 higher than this State's threshold. This in turn entices New South Wales residents to travel north of the border to access these businesses, and northern New South Wales continues to lose investment and consumer dollars to Queensland.
Queensland's business-friendly payroll tax schedule is luring businesses out of New South Wales and out of the New South Wales economy. New South Wales simply is not able to compete and will not be able to compete, unless the payroll tax-free threshold is raised to equal that of Queensland—precisely what this bill will do. The State Coalition's policy is to raise the tax-free threshold on payrolls from Labor's $600,000 to $850,000. This will encourage business in New South Wales to invest and give greater financial incentive to employ more staff. Under this policy 4,500 businesses will be exempt from paying payroll tax, and more than 22,000 businesses will receive tax cuts of up to $15,000. Raising the payroll tax threshold to match Queensland's will deliver a $282 million boost to businesses in 2007-08, providing a significant incentive for businesses to remain in New South Wales instead of moving, or being forced to move, north.
Under this bill, payrolls of less than $850,000 will pay no payroll tax at all. A business with total taxable wages of $1 million will pay only $9,000 whereas under Labor they will pay $24,000. A business with total taxable wages of $1.5 million will pay only $39,000 whereas under Labor they will pay $54,000. This Labor Government is continually claiming that New South Wales is open for business. Yet the current payroll tax is driving business out of New South Wales. If the Labor Government is serious about kick-starting the New South Wales economy and returning the New South Wales economy to the powerhouse it once was, it will vote to support this important legislation.
