By: Nick Tyrrell
On the same day small businesses were told they must absorb card fees, the Australian Taxation Office announced it would refuse to.
The ATO will stop accepting credit cards after 30 November. It says it would not be appropriate for a government agency to pass merchant fees on to the community.
Liberal Senate candidate for the ACT Nick Tyrrell, a small business owner himself, said the reasoning gave the game away.
“The Tax Office looked at the surcharge ban, decided it didn’t want to wear the card fees, and stopped taking cards. Every café, physio and tradie in Canberra has been told to keep taking the card and swallow the fee,” said Mr Tyrrell.
“If it isn’t appropriate for the ATO to absorb those costs, why is it appropriate for a small business on a thin margin?”
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has called the move “utter hypocrisy”. It also criticised the ATO for waiting until the ban took effect to announce it.
Mr Tyrrell said many small businesses relied on a card to manage cashflow around their monthly or quarterly instalments and BAS.
“Putting the BAS on the card is how a lot of small businesses get from the due date to the day their invoices are paid. This Labor government has just pulled that rug out from under small business.
“As a small business owner, I can tell you how this feels. The Budget’s tax changes. Payday Super. The interest on late bills made non-deductible. The surcharge ban. And now the card. Small business is being pushed to the wall, and for some it will be the end,” Mr Tyrrell said.
“Jim Chalmers says people shouldn’t be punished for using a card. And now he’s punishing small business owners for exactly that.”
Mr Tyrrell said small business doesn’t have access to the lobbyists that big business, big banks and big unions do, and the government behaves as if small business doesn’t exist.
“The big end of town has bankers and credit lines. The sole trader staring down a quarterly BAS has just run out of options. Small business doesn’t have the lobbyists big banks, big business and big unions do.”
“I encourage every small business in this town who serves one of the Labor MPs or our Labor Senator at their dry cleaner, coffee shop or hairdresser to let them know when you see them that you’re sick to death of being last on Labor’s list of priorities,” Mr Tyrrell said.
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