News
Issue No. 11 - June/July 2003
CPA Survey Highlights Red Tape Anger
Almost two thirds (62 per cent) of small businesses are fed up with tax obligations and more than 40 per cent are so swamped with paperwork that they are questioning the value of staying in business.
These findings are from CPA Australia’s latest national small business survey on compliance burden. The survey was conducted on 700 small businesses (independent and employing fewer than 20 staff) and 105 CPA accountants in March 2003.
“The survey shows that the main gripes with red tape for small business are the increase in time it takes to do paperwork, difficulty in keeping up with the compliance changes and understanding their obligations,” says CPA Australia small business spokesman Mr Alan Green.
“We believe that small business operators resent the time taken to meet their compliance obligations because it takes them away from running and growing their business.
“Many are drowning in paperwork and, to cope, more than half are outsourcing more paperwork than ever before, resulting in increased accountancy costs for 41 per cent of businesses.”
According to CPA Australia’s small business survey, around one third of small businesses claimed they spent more time on BAS returns and annual income tax returns in the past two years. This was supported by more than half of the CPAs surveyed.
On a positive note, 73 per cent find compliance obligations act as an incentive for them to keep up-to-date with their record keeping.
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