The Tax Institute welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the Treasury in relation to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Measures for Consultation) Bill 2022: skills and training boost exposure draft legislation (draft legislation) and accompanying exposure draft explanatory material (explanatory material) in relation to the introduction of the skills and training boost (skills boost).
In the development of this submission, we have closely consulted with our National Small and Medium Enterprises Technical Committee to prepare a considered response which represents the views of the broader membership of The Tax Institute.
The Tax Institute broadly supports the enactment of legislation to introduce the skills boost into the Income Tax (Transitional Provisions) Act 1997 (IT(TP)A) and encourage small businesses to improve productivity in their workforce. We consider that the policy’s effectiveness and equity could be enhanced if the scope of employee training is extended to apply to other types of worker relationships, with a continued focus on small business owners. These small businesses are the engine room of the economy and it is paramount that their owners are supported to enable growth and improved productivity in their business. This would ensure that the measure appropriately and effectively supports small businesses to create opportunities to develop the skills of their workers and grow the business, irrespective of whether they employ staff within the ordinary meaning.