Page 5766 - Week 18 - Tuesday, 10 December 1991
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amendments to the Payroll Tax Act before the house rises, to deal with the anomaly concerning some of the subcontractor issues that the Chief Minister is aware of - and not the apprenticeship issue. I ask whether her Treasury has made an assessment of the potential cost of giving that concession and whether she is prepared to entertain an argument that the loss of revenue, which perhaps could be up to $600,000, could be offset by the licensing of subcontractors, as is carried out in New South Wales and not, except for plumbers and electricians, in this Territory.
MS FOLLETT: Mr Speaker, as Mr Collaery says, I have met with industry representatives and have been in correspondence with them over the question of payroll tax and particularly the issue of the service contract provisions which are affecting payroll tax. I think it is correct to say that, at the moment, I still have that matter under discussion, under review; but I do not think it is appropriate for me to be called upon, as Mr Collaery appears to have done by way of a question without notice, to announce my intentions in that regard. I certainly do not intend to do that.
I think all members should bear in mind that, whilst the issue has been raised largely within the construction and housing or building industry, it has, of course, much wider ramifications throughout all industries, many of which use service contract arrangements and many of which are involved in partnership arrangements. It seems to me that, if any change were to be made purely for the benefit of the housing, construction or building industries, certainly that wider application is something that would have to be taken into account and costed against the ACT revenue.
I do not intend to answer the specifics of Mr Collaery's question, because it is largely hypothetical. It calls upon me to announce matters for which there is no basis for a government announcement. I think I should leave it at saying that I have the matter still under review, and, if at some stage there seems to be a need to change the existing provisions, that would be the time that I would make an announcement. But I have, currently, no such intention.
MR COLLAERY: I ask a supplementary question. I thank the Chief Minister for her comments. I ask the Chief Minister whether she is aware of the actual sum currently raised by the assessment of those service contracts. What part of the, I think, $85.1m that is achieved from payroll tax itself relates to the service contracts?
MS FOLLETT: No, I am not aware of that. We could attempt to find that out. I think it might be a difficult sum to do, but certainly I could have the Revenue Office do some calculations on it and get back to Mr Collaery with the answer.
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