Hon Craig Foss

Minister for Small Business

13 April 2016

Media Statement

Tax changes latest move to help small business

Small Business Minister Craig Foss says changing the provisional tax system is yet another way the Government is helping small businesses grow and thrive.

“The tax system is a key issue for New Zealand’s small businesses — it’s consistently raised with me by business owners, local chambers and business associations up and down the country,” Mr Foss says.

“The changes announced today show the Government is focused on helping small businesses get ahead by saving them even more time and money.”

Other recent initiatives to help small business include:
· Cutting ACC levies by around $2 billion a year since 2011 — putting more money back into workers, businesses, and motor vehicle owners’ pockets — which is about the equivalent of a sizeable tax cut.
· Signing the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), which will save New Zealand exporters around $274 million a year in tariffs and boost our economy by at least $2.7 billion a year by 2030.
· Helping to keep interest rates at a nearly 60-year low.
· Encouraging businesses to invest in R&D through government grants.
· Introducing 90-day trials and a starting-out wage to give businesses the confidence to take on new staff.
· Rolling out faster broadband across New Zealand, with more than 200,000 businesses now able to connect.
· Making it easier for businesses to interact with government online by reducing costs and rolling out the New Zealand Business Number.
· Overhauling the Resource Management Act to reduce costs and delays for businesses and homeowners.

“The Government understands that getting tax right and making it as easy as possible benefits not just businesses but the economy and therefore all New Zealanders,” Mr Foss says.

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