Page 2172 - Week 10 - Thursday, 26 October 1989
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employer, and therefore is liable for payroll tax. This is not consistent with New South Wales and Victoria, where the person receiving the service is liable for the payroll tax. It creates a number of inequities. Temporary staff engaged are not afforded the same treatment as employees who were recruited directly, and employers who are exempt from payroll tax or fall under the threshold are burdened with an indirect charge of payroll tax.
It appears that the ACT Treasury officials are unaware of the inconsistencies between this legislation and that of New South Wales. It appears that they were not familiar with the extent of the fringe benefits tax legislation. The definition has been applied to overcome interpretation and valuation problems; however, this will create more problems than it will solve. The private sector agreed that a working party should be established, and they have indicated that they are very much opposed to the Bill without further close examination by qualified persons and further consultation.
Mr Speaker, CARD put out a press release, and I think it probably would be sensible if that were read into the record here. It is a press release put out today in relation to their concerns over the payroll tax amendments. It states:
The private sector is very concerned about proposed Payroll Tax amendments which would introduce the harshest Payroll Tax legislation in Australia by significantly expanding the revenue base.
In the original Budget discussions very limited information was made available on proposed significant changes to the Payroll Tax Act and the current proposed amendments were drafted without any significant input by the private sector.
The ACT Government has clearly acknowledged the critical role of the private sector in providing economic expansion, diversity and job creation. For example, it is anticipated that in excess of 20 thousand young people will come into the job market in the next two to three years who will be essentially looking to the private sector for job opportunities. The Canberra Association for Regional Development has clearly established that it is essential to create a positive environment for economic growth and job creation and that an important part of that environment will be a budgetary context that allows positive growth in the private sector.
The Chairman of CARD, Mr George Snow, said today that the current Payroll Tax amendments had harsh implications for all employers in Canberra with the extension of Payroll Tax into previously
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