The federal Coalition government is expected to follow the lead of the Opposition and allow small businesses the choice of completing a detailed Business Activity Statement (BAS) once a year, with quarterly payments calculated on previous experience.
Federal Opposition leader Kim Beasley and Shadow Small Business Minister Joel Fitzgibbon unveiled the Labor Party's plan at a press conference this morning.
Around the same time, Treasurer Peter Costello confirmed the BAS will be simplified and said quarterly
payments will continue - see the story
here for more details.
However, he would not rule out an annual
statement, preferring to focus on the fact businesses do not yet have an adequate history to allow quarterly payments without the extensive calculations.
It is believed that such a policy is being considered by the government.
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