MARKUS CONCERNED BY IMPACT OF MINING TAX ON SMALL BUSINESS
01-December-2011
Federal Member for Macquarie, Louise Markus MP, expressed her concern for the impact the Minerals Resource Rent Tax will have on small business. In the dead of the night, the MRRT was passed through the lower house during the last sitting week of the year as a consequence of the Gillard Labor Government rushing legislation through the House before Christmas. Mrs Markus used her speaking opportunity in Parliament to give a voice to Macquarie small business, discriminated against by this tax.
“The Gillard Government’s Minerals Resource Rent Tax treats sections of the community differently; it divides the nation and drives small business to the wall,” said Mrs Markus.
“Small business forms the backbone of the Australian economy and makes up a significant part of the Blue Mountains-Hawkesbury economy.
“Everyday, hard-working Australians – the self-employed, home-based businesses, small retailers, self-employed contractors – are all targets for the Gillard Labor Government’s attack on small business through the MRRT.”
The MRRT proposes to abolish the entrepreneur’s tax offset, a move that will seriously harm small, Macquarie companies that have enjoyed this benefit introduced by the Howard Government in 2005.
Mrs Markus said, “the entrepreneur’s tax offset provides a 25% offset on annual income tax liability on turnover up to $50,000, phasing out to cease at a turnover of $75,000.”
“The MRRT will abolish this incentive and create further challenges for Macquarie residents already doing it tough under this insensitive Labor Government.
“The Gillard Labor Government has passed this piece of legislation through the lower house without considering the pressure of small business and the burden it carries for the national economy.
“I encourage all Macquarie residents, particularly those who own and operate a small business, to voice their concerns for the MRRT so that it is not passed through in its current format.”