THE IPA GROUP CALLS FOR MORE SME SUPPORT IN AUSTRALIA’S FIRST WELLBEING BUDGET

October 25, 2022

The IPA Group is urging the government to prioritise federal budget initiatives that give small and medium-sized enterprises the capacity to deal with the inflationary pressures and the follow-on effects of climate-related emergencies and supply chain disruptions.

“This is an out-of-cycle budget that is unlikely to tackle the structural deficit and support business for medium-term economic growth,” the IPA Group CEO Andrew Conway said.

“We expect this budget to focus on the election promise of supporting the financial wellbeing of families.”

Mr. Conway said the government should also pursue long-term tax, industrial relations and trade policy reforms that would give SMEs the flexibility to deal with business interruptions and future uncertainties while growing the economic pie.'

Earlier this year, IPA called on the government to help small and medium enterprises navigate the impact of ESG, help raise their export capacity and support the skills transition.

The IPA Group has identified three immediate policy initiatives to boost small and medium enterprise confidence in the short term:

Make the instant asset write-off permanent

The instant asset write-off has been extended to 30 June 2023 to allow eligible businesses to deduct the full cost of eligible depreciable assets. Making it a permanent feature of the tax system is a quick win. The IPA Group calls on the government to consider:

  • Extending full asset expensing indefinitely
  • Allowing businesses who were late in expensing assets to fully write them off
  • Increasing the asset write-off threshold to more than $1000.

Cybersecurity

Increase government support to build cyber-resilience in line with other comparable OECD countries.

Disaster relief

The increasing frequency of major environmental disasters is putting more stress on accountants to provide business support services and manage their own economic and mental wellbeing. We call for the first Wellbeing Budget to address the problem of business continuity in high-risk areas.

The IPA Team will be in the budget lock-up in Canberra. Our budget analysis will be released via our social media channels after 19:30 tonight.