Small to medium-size businesses will start to receive the state government's one-off $100 million payroll tax rebate this week.
Small to medium-size businesses will start to receive the state government's one-off $100 million payroll tax rebate this week.
Premier Colin Barnett said the rebate, which was announced in the 2009-10 Budget, was a major initiative by the Liberal-National Government to encourage employers to retain staff during the global financial crisis.
"One of the major objectives of the State Government's first budget in May 2009 was to protect jobs and support the Western Australian economy following the global economic downturn in late 2008," he said.
"The payroll tax rebate has played a key role in achieving this objective," Mr Barnett said.
More than 6,500 small to medium-size businesses are expected to receive the rebate which becomes payable after a company's total Australian wages exceed $750,000.
The rebate, which will be worth up to $46,750 per employer, will typically assist companies which employ approximately 11 to 46 full-time staff.
It will offset the total 2009-10 payroll tax liabilities of employers who pay less than $1.6 million in wages.
Employers who pay between $1.6 million and $3.2 million will receive a partial rebate, which will be calculated on a sliding scale.
Mr Barnett said about 70 per cent of the rebates were expected to be issued by the end of the week, with the remainder following progressively thereafter.
But Shadow Treasurer Ben Wyatt said the payroll rebate scheme was overshadowed by more than half a billion dollars in extra taxes that the Liberals have imposed on small business since the Midyear Review in December 2009.
"The Liberals imposed $511million in extra taxes on the small business sector less than a
year ago," Mr Wyatt said.
"He is giving with one hand and taking a lot more with the other.
"While small businesses will appreciate the relief, they should be questioning why they have
borne the brunt of Colin Barnett's tax slug last December.
"To balance his expense growth, he slugged small business ruthlessly. We now know that in
addition to slugging the small business sector, the Liberal Government has had its foot on
the hose of Government services that has seen the public bank account blow out to a record
$5.3billion."
