Page 2173 - Week 10 - Thursday, 26 October 1989
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exempt areas. The amendments went beyond New South Wales where there were considerable exemptions in that the proposed definition of sub contracts and service contracts would see a lot of so-called contract payments would now be assessable for payroll tax.
The proposed amendments also placed considerable discretion on the ACT Revenue Commissioner to interpret the implementation of the so-called amendments which would lead to considerable uncertainty in not only the amount of tax that would be due but also in other areas like workers' compensation and employee liability.
Mr Snow said the proposed amendments were not sufficiently defined to allow certainty for all employers who would need then to go to the Revenue Commissioner to seek determinations or to challenge such determinations in the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, which would be costly and time consuming.
There was also the proposal to extend Payroll Tax legislation to cover fringe benefit payments, which were not previously assessed for Payroll Tax.
Mr Snow called on the ACT Government to provide sufficient time for all the proposals to be properly examined prior to seeking to have the amendments endorsed by the Legislative Assembly.
Mr Snow said it was unfortunate that the ACT Government was seeking to mimic all other State type taxations in the ACT, particularly those that have an unfortunate impact on employment opportunities. It was a pity that the opportunities were not sought to try and encourage people to employ more labour rather than increase the burden on all employment in the Territory.
Mr Snow called, on behalf of the private sector, for further discussion in regard to the proposed amendments prior to the Government seeking approval from the Legislative Assembly.
I think it is very clear from those views that the private sector is not at all happy with these proposed amendments.
Like Mrs Grassby, I have been a PAYE taxpayer all my life. Indeed, the Liberal Party believes that people should be taxed, but they should be taxed fairly. We do not believe in screwing business, as this legislation would propose to do. As Mr Humphries so very ably said, in the ACT we want to encourage business; we do not want to make it harder for them. The Labor Party professes to have a great regard to looking after the interests of workers. You do not look
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