No one has ever accused the ACT Public Service of being the A-team.
The Liberals’ Brendan Smyth is worried that fighting over payroll tax is going to deter investors:
“Given the business community is very concerned about the way in which the ACT’s payroll tax regime is being administered, I will today ask the Assembly to support a moratorium on the ACT Revenue Office taking legal action over this tax,” Mr Smyth said.
“The concerns which have come to my attention highlight how difficult it is for businesses, which have unresolved payroll tax matters, to plan their activities and to finalise their annual accounts and taxation matters.
“ACT business concerns include:
— very long delays in the ACT Revenue Office making determinations on payroll tax matters;
— the interpretation of the payroll tax legislation by the ACT Revenue Office; and
— the way in which decisions of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal are acknowledged by the ACT Revenue Office.“I’m very concerned that businesses may invest outside of the ACT because of these issues, much to the detriment of ACT economic growth and employment.
Given the sky high costs of land and almost no available workforce I’d suggest payroll taxis the least of our worries.
The only reason you’d bring a business to Canberra is to take advantage of incompetent regulation (see Mitchell Fire).