SME Business in Queensland Slammed $7 Billion Charges Annually

As the government red tape is increasing more than 30 per cent over the past five years, a total of $7 billion a year in taxes, fees, and other charges are slugging small businesses in Queensland.

Family businesses in Queensland are struggling through 90,000 pages of regulation that govern the sector.

Burgeoning paperwork and some extra cost of taxes are being blamed by a huge chunk of operators as the reasons behind slumped growth and progress. These paper works include mandatory permits and licenses, calculation methods, audits by payroll tax officials, and the fear of what might be brought about by the carbon tax next year.


An operator feels the pressure and has decided to bring his operations to China.

It has been found that 93 percent of businesses think that Queensland has become a “nanny state” by a report from the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland. Due to regulation, 70 percent of businesses were prevented from investing.

The state government had increased red tape cost by 6.6 percent. This has driven the overall burden growing to 31.6 percent according to the Blueprint for Fighting Over-Regulation Report.

To add to this, the 2011 National CEO Survey by the Australian Industry Group revealed that it is the Queensland businesses that faced the largest direct cost of compliance that averages 6.5 percent in total expenses.

"During a period when there has been concerted effort to reduce the regulatory burden on business and claims by government of regulatory burden targets being achieved, the compliance costs have increased, not decreased. These costs are expected to further increase in the next three years," said the AiGroup.

Queensland has lost its way and that its government is “all talk, no action” on the matter of cost reduction as stated by CCIQ President, David Goodwin.

"We've gone from being the leader to being the cellar dweller from being low cost and low regulation to now being the highest regulated and no longer the lowest cost. We need the Premier to actually find her voice and stand up for Queensland business," he said.

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