In our opinion, rather than trying to fix broken parts of the tax system, the idea of a special purpose small business entity has real merit,. A properly designed, small business entity should eliminate the need for most businesses to deal with a range of complex tax issues such as Division 7A and trusts.  It could also form the basis on which the various concessions available to SME businesses are accessed, overcoming the existing definition issues

The Tax Discussion Paper makes reference to the S-Corp Model used in the United States.  While this is the seed of a good idea, it’s important that Australia doesn’t replicate the complexity of the US tax system.

There are numerous other areas where changes could be made to support SME businesses, and develop a fairer and more efficient tax system. 

These include:

• Having a single tax authority (the Australian Taxation Office). The alternative, giving greater taxing authority to the States, will add significant compliance costs for SME businesses.
• 
  
• Removing small taxes that are ineffective or where the issue can be dealt with appropriately through other more efficient taxes.  
  
  FBT is a good example of this.  The cost for SME businesses to comply with FBT is high.  The majority of the benefits taxed under the FBT regime could be efficiently dealt with under the income tax regime, which is the approach that most other countries have taken.
• 
  
• Target avoidance measures at larger businesses rather than SME taxpayers.  This will focus the more complex measures on the most economically significant taxpayers and those with greater resources to deal with the complexity.  Any avoidance measures should be as targeted on the avoidance issue as possible.

Author: Greg Travers, Original Article

Director, Tax Services

William Buck

It's now even easier to find information about available vocational education and training (VET) courses through the updated My Skills  website. 

The My Skills website

The My Skills website is the national directory of VET organisations and courses. You can search for VET courses and training providers by:

• industry sector
  
• location of training providers
  
• specific skills you need.
  

The My Skills website is updated every night to ensure it has the most up-to-date information about courses on offer by registered training organisations (RTOs).

How can the updated My Skills website help my business?

My Skills 3.0 includes a number of new features making it even easier for you to find relevant training courses to upskill yourself and your staff.

These features include:

• an updated homepage - to help you quickly search for training organisations near you
  
• a faster and more intuitive search engine - to save you valuable time
  
• tools to help you compare courses and training providers - so you can ensure you're sending your employees on the course most suited to your needs
  
• a VET FEE-HELP calculator - to help you and your employee(s) understand loan obligations if you're using financial assistance for the training career pathways information
  
• information on student outcomes for the most popular courses - to see how courses can relate to occupations in a career stream
  
• identification of sanctioned training providers.
  

Check out the My Skills website today to find the training you need for your business.

Find out more...

• Check out our Skills and training topic for more information on developing the skills of you and your employees.
• Before you search for training, identify your skills needs for your business.
• Find out more about employing people in your business. 

Roads and Maritime Services is seeking feedback on a proposal to upgrade roads in western Sydney, including The Northern Road Upgrade Stages 3 and 4, the M12 Motorway and The Northern Road and Bringelly Road Interchange.

Have your say

Submit your feedback by Friday 14 August to NSW Roads and Maritime Services via email wsip@rms.nsw.gov.au, call 1800 703 457 (during business hours) or post to:

Western Sydney Infrastructure Plan
Roads and Maritime Services
Po Box 973
Parramatta NSW 2124

Phone

Date: Jul. 14 - Aug. 14, 2015
Time: 9:00am — 5:00pm

More Information

wsip@rms.nsw.gov.au
1800 703 457
Agency Website

Source: NSW Government, Website 

Australia has prospered through two decades of economic outperformance, with the level of growth almost twice that of its peers. Much of the platform for growth was laid during the 1980’s when policy frameworks provided efficient and flexible market mechanisms (namely, the floating foreign exchange rate, deregulation of the banking system and productivity reforms in the labour market). Over the last decade or so the main drivers have been episodic, but strong, credit growth and the unprecedented mining boom driven by China’s rapid industrialisation.  

The unravelling of the mining boom has led to Australia consistently posting negative terms of trade figures. The April 2015 figure of -$3.9 billion is the largest on record and three times worse than that recorded in March. This has a direct negative effect on national income (there has already been a $52 billion write-down in forecast tax receipts over the four years to 2017-18 since last year’s budget, primarily driven by a halving of the iron ore price and persistently low wage growth).

Click here to read the full version of our Economic & Market Outlook July 2015 for an update on the Australian and International economy.

Should you have any queries in relation to the above, please do not hesitate to contact the author or your Moore Stephens relationship partner.

Contact

Martin Fowler
Partner, Wealth Management
Moore Stephens Sydney
T +61 (0)2 8236 7776
mjfowler@moorestephens.com.au

We’ve got Christmas all wrapped up! Look no further than Rosehill Gardens or Canterbury Park for a Christmas celebration to remember. Whether it’s on a race day or if an evening event tickles your fancy, enjoy all-inclusive packages and let our award winning team take care of the rest. Get in quick before we sell out. 

Check out the options here

PwC is planning to double the size of its practice in greater Western Sydney over the next two years as the Badgery's Creek Airport development and other state-backed infrastructure projects boost the confidence of local business owners. 

The greater Western Sydney business has already doubled in size from 25 to 50 staff since it was established two years ago and now has four partners. 

"We've invested in growing our presence in Western Sydney. With significant infrastructure spend in Parramatta about to come online, we want to ensure we are well placed to meet client demand in these emerging economic powerhouses," PwC Australia chief executive Luke Sayers said.

Last week PwC released research showing that one-fifth of the Australia's economic output comes from just 10 locations, with Macquarie Park in greater Western Sydney making the list. 

On Monday PwC announced the appointment of 64 new partners from July 1. Among those promoted was Keenan Muir, 31, who shifted from the CBD to the Western Sydney outpost 18 months ago. 

"I wanted to make the move out to the greater Western Sydney practice because some of my biggest clients were based here and I saw it as a chance to work with some of the best and brightest people. The government has committed billions of dollars in infrastructure funding for the new airport as well as roads and other projects, and that has delivered quite a confidence boost to the community," Mr Muir said. 

The commute from Balmain, where he lives, to the office at Baulkham Hills is worth it for the career opportunities available in the west, he said. 

GOING AGAINST THE FLOW

"My future is out here where the opportunities are, and the daily drive is against the traffic anyway. I think there will be a trend for a lot more inner-city professionals to start commuting against the flow". 

Another geographic location outside the main hubs of inner-city Sydney and Melbourne exhibiting strong growth for the firm is Brisbane, which gained six new partners. 

In terms of business divisions, consulting dominated the 2015 partner intake with more than a quarter of total new appointments. This includes the formal admission of 20 partners who joined the firm through PwC's global acquisition of Booz & Co in 2014, that business has since been re-branded as Strategy&. 

Mr Muir is one of six new partners admitted across PwC's growing private clients business. That division last week named BRW Rich-Lister David Smorgon executive chairman of its family business and wealth practice following the acquisition of his consultancy Pointmade. 

While at least 30 per cent of new partnerships went to women at the rest of the big four accounting firms in 2015, only 17 per cent of the 64 new partners named by PwC were women. 

PwC launched new gender targets for future partner intakes in an attempt to address the imbalance. 

"We are absolutely delighted with the talent we have coming through our firm ... However, we are not satisfied with the gender split and we are working very hard to improve this moving forward," Mr Sayers said. 

From July 1, the firm will adopt a target to ensure 40 per cent of new partners are women. The firm has also put it in writing that a minimum of 40 per cent of new partnerships must go to men, with the remaining 20 per cent of new partner positions open to both men and women. 

The CEO said the firm had taken steps to improve diversity and inclusion, including naming it a strategic priority 12 months ago, instituting a gender pay audit, establishing an all-roles flexible-work policy and appointing an external diversity advisory board. 

In a bid to remain competitive in winning work from clients with overseas business interests, the firm has also set targets to improve its cultural diversity. The aim is to ensure 20 per cent of new partners admitted in 2016 identify as coming from another cultural background, rising to 30 per cent by 2020.

The popular multicultural festival Parramasala will return to Parramatta for a sixth year after a funding agreement was reached with the NSW Government.

Parramatta City Council will provide funding of $200,000, which is in addition to a $400,000 commitment from the State Government and corporate sponsorship in excess of $100,000. 

 
Parramasala 2015 will feature as a signature event for the launch of Indian Tourism Week in NSW under the banner of Incredible India.

“Parramasala is a vibrant and positive festival that brings people of all cultures together. It has become a hugely popular event in Parramatta, drawing in thousands of visitors each year, and we are thrilled that it will return for 2015,” Lord Mayor of Parramatta Cr Scott Lloyd said.  

“The funding arrangements are of a similar scale to last year’s event, which means the festival’s format will largely remain unchanged and the popular Harris Park component will return.”

The festival, which will be held from 23 October to 25 October, celebrates Indian and South Asian cultures but in recent years has taken on a multicultural flavour. Highlights of the 2015 Festival will include an opening colourful street parade through the Parramatta CBD, the Parramasala festival hub in Prince Alfred Square and the Harris Street ‘block party’ on Saturday 24 October.

Minister for Multiculturalism John Ajaka said that this year’s festival will be celebrated in conjunction with the inaugural Indian Tourism Week, which was announced by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Australia last year.

“Now in its sixth year, this year’s event will place greater emphasis on everything we love about India – its customs, cuisines and colours – in one jam-packed weekend,” Mr Ajaka said.

Parramasala Chairman Dr G.K Harinath said he was thrilled that the Government and Parramatta City Council are continuing to support Parramasala this year.

“Parramasala explores and celebrates the rich social fabric of Sydney and has grown to be the best multicultural festival in Australia,” Dr Harinath said. 

Festival Director Di Henry said she is looking forward to staging another successful Parramasala Festival in Parramatta and Harris Park.

“Following on from the success of the format of Parramasala in 2014 we are planning more surprises and will work with the wonderful artists and performers of Western Sydney to showcase the diversity and talent of this exciting part of Sydney,” Ms Henry said.

I would like to take this opportunity at end of financial year and with the recent NSW state budget to provide you with a few figures from WSBC to highlight how we are providing business connections across Western Sydney that generate brand awareness, lead generation, learning and engagement for both the economic and social growth of our members and the region.

Over the past year we have seen a 20% increase in the number of new members joining the WSBC Community. Our business leader luncheons this past year, held right across our region, have seen increases in attendance from 170 to 250 with the last three being sold out. 

All this means more new faces and new organisations for you to connect with. 

We’ve seen the most growth in our gold membership category and over the past year our gold and platinum members have showcased their thought leaderships, services, products and member offers with over 300 news items via our website, increasing their brand awareness across the region.

All this activity has seen the WSBC community engage with over 3,300 businesses, an increase of 800 new businesses this past year. 

In July we launch our new strategies to grow membership and a new focus in the SW region to provide further connections between industry, education and government. 

The improved member benefits and value proposition and particularly the way we work with members to understand their needs and utilise the right tools at our disposal to achieve them is now kicking some goals. In the new membership year we hope to see further growth and engagement as WSBC continues to grow as part of our members marketing and BD teams and an extension of their BD strategies. 

Also in the year ahead we have our five business leader luncheons, including topics such as health, infrastructure, regional economic development, leadership and our main event of the year The State of The Region address by the Premier of NSW The Hon Mike Baird. A date for your diaries is 6 October. All other dates can be found on our website and look out for the GWS Employment Forum with Newscorp and TAFE WSi due to be confirmed soon. This will address the employment issues businesses in our region face and provide advice for business owners, HR departments and the future of the regions workforce. We have 2 remaining event partner positions available, so get in quick to secure a great platform to promote your business and share your thoughts on this popular subject in our region.

By now I hope you have all managed to review the results of the first piece of research on Making Western Sydney Greater, a research project lead by William Buck in conjunction with WSBC and Platinum partners St George Bank and UWS. The second of this bi-annual research is in progress now and you have until the end of the week to get involved and help shape the future of our regions economy. Please view the website and our twitter feeds for links to the survey. The more organisations contribute the more information we have to advocate on your behalf and take to government at all levels. 

Full details of these and more of Western Sydney’s projects, along with articles to assist you in managing and growing your business are located on the WSBC news pages. 

WSBC, along with many key stakeholders in the region are also contributing to Deloitte’s Shaping Future Cities Strategies. It is another piece of extensive research that will represent businesses thoughts to government on key projects and strategies on how the region can generate over 200,000 jobs in the region. I believe further news will be ready in Q2 of the financial year and we will of course bring you up to date with all developments. 

To be part of this growing and vibrant community please contact us or simply join up straight away. Can your business benefit from up to date information on the region and business connections with over 3,300 businesses? Find out more on how you can benefit from the WSBC Business Development tool.

UWS launched their Western Sydney economic development strategy at a WSBC collaborative event in Penrith last week. It was great to see the Australian Government recognising the importance of our region with local Federal MP, Fiona Scott, granted a rare release from the final parliamentary sitting day before recess, directly from the Prime Minister.

The panel discussion with Fiona Scott MP, Prof. Barney Glover, VC of UWS, Dr Tim Williams, CEO Committee for Sydney and Paul Van Bergan, Tax and R&D incentives Partner at KPMG saw a very informative conversation. Many businesses in attendance praised the initiative and the discussions.

The Western Sydney Innovation Corridor is a strategy that is regional in focus and international in context and made up of interconnected knowledge-driven commercial hubs. The attached document provides further information and you can keep up to date with progress via WSBC news pages. 

In mid July the University will release a detailed paper by Professor Donald McNeil, to add to the evidence base for the innovation corridor to preview the following key findings:

• In fostering innovation across a defined area, competition between firms can be just as important as collaboration.

  
  

• In this region, skilled jobs will, to a large extent, come via mastering software platforms across different industries rather than just within single sectors.

  
  

• We need to work together to capture the full benefit of the region’s infrastructure investments, and avoid the ‘splintering’ and ‘bypass’ effects faster connections can bring.

  
  

• Under its ‘Grand Paris’ strategy, the French Government is positioning a university at the centre of its new orbital transport infrastructure.

  
  

• We must encourage airlines to plan for high-volume service, by shifting the narrative from, ‘What will the airport bring?’ to instead ask, ‘What can the region bring to the airport?’

  
  

• Process innovation can be just as valuable as product innovation.

It has been said that change is the only constant in life, but the rate of change seems to have gone into overdrive over the last few years. For large vocational training organisation TAFE Western Sydney, this is evident through new projects which have taken training out of colleges and onto pop-up style training facilities on worksites.

Such projects see the TAFE Institute partnering with organisations to achieve specific outcomes based upon the needs of an organisation and also fulfilling social objectives. The Barangaroo Skills Exchange is one such example where specific targets were set. In just a few years more than 7,000 workers, many of whom would never have stepped into a TAFE college, have completed training onsite. A celebration for the enrolment of the 500^th apprentice and the 50^th Indigenous apprentice onsite was held in late June.

TAFE Western Sydney has also been identified as the prime training provider for a major infrastructure project - Australia’s biggest public transport project, and is looking into how the pop-up college model can be used for other major projects.

“What was only a few years considered innovative is now commonplace so our challenge is to keep adapting. We are finding now that we need to step outside and take our training into the marketplace,” said Robin Shreeve, Institute Director.

“We are always open to conversation with businesses and government organisations to explore more ways of skilling up workers.”

Business case study documents have recently been released by TAFE Western Sydney. Call (02) 9208 9421 for details.