Ombudsman urges startup tax breaks to tackle 'cost of doing business crisis'
A dwindling number of young founders, along with broader economic challenges affecting small businesses, has sparked a push for new tax offsets.
Tax offsets for startups to help encourage founders launch new ventures and reinvest have become a focal point for small business representatives in Canberra as fresh data shows increasing pressures are causing the sector to dwindle.
Leading the charge for a tax discount or offset is Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson, who is warning policymakers that small businesses have been shrinking as a share of the economy over the past two decades, with fewer young people entering the sector.
According to data provided by the Ombudsman, just over half of small businesses turned a profit last year. And small business owners are getting older. While about 16% of small business owners were under 30 in the 1970s, only about 8% are today.
“The complexity of running a business is increasing, both in the scale of regulation and the complexity of it, and that represents a challenge,” Billson told Capital Brief.
