Vote Compass: Australians want companies to pay more tax — except small businesses

Updated

Most Australians want to see large corporations and multinationals paying more tax, but voters are split on whether small businesses should be taxed less or the same as now, new figures reveal.

The data from ABC's Vote Compass shows people remain supportive of small businesses but are ready for greater taxation on the big end of town.

Seventy per cent of respondents want large corporations to pay more tax, while 85 per cent would like to see multinationals paying a larger slice.

The largest supporters of tax cuts for small businesses are those who plan to vote for the Coalition.

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) has a different definition of a small business from business regulator the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).

ASIC says a small business has revenue up to $25 million, while the ATO says they have less than $2 million in revenue.

If the Coalition remains in government, it has promised to extend its small business tax breaks from companies with up to $2 million in revenue to instead cover companies with up to $10 million in revenue.

By 2024, the Coalition has promised to lower the company tax rate for all businesses.

Labor would keep the company tax breaks for businesses with revenue of up to $2 million but not extend those tax cuts to cover larger companies.

"Small business is the lifeblood of the national economy," the NSW Business Chamber's Damian Kelly said.

Mr Kelly said that tax cuts to small businesses would result in more jobs in the community.

"Both parties are doing their research and they're still talking about the company tax rate and what impacts it will have on small business owners and on the broader economy," Mr Kelly said.

These findings are based on more than 36,000 respondents who participated in Vote Compass from June 3 to June 8, 2016. The respondents were randomly presented with one of the three company tax questions after answering the 30 standard questions from Vote Compass. The data has been weighted to ensure the sample reflects the Australian population. [Read the Vote Compass data FAQ]

Company tax cuts

Coalition

Cut the company tax rate to 27.5 per cent for businesses turning over up to $10 million per year, dropping to 25 per cent for all businesses by 2026-27.

Labor

Cut the company tax rate to 27.5 per cent for businesses turning over up to $2 million per year, but maintain existing rates for larger businesses.

Greens

Won't support any cuts to the company tax rate. Cut the company tax rate to 27.5 per cent for businesses turning over up to $10 million per year, dropping to 25 per cent for all businesses by 2026-27.Cut the company tax rate to 27.5 per cent for businesses turning over up to $2 million per year, but maintain existing rates for larger businesses.Won't support any cuts to the company tax rate.

Topics: tax, small-business, corporate-governance, business-economics-and-finance, federal-elections, federal-election, federal-government, federal-parliament

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