Adams Amy: Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill — First Reading 
Adams Amy: Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill — First Reading 
[Volume:652;Page:1096] 
AMY ADAMS (National—Selwyn) 
: 
 I am delighted to rise to speak in support of the Taxation (Business Tax Measures) Bill because this bill contains provisions that are what good law should be. By the agreement of this entire House which is voting in support of the bill they are necessary and they will help. This bill is about getting behind the very people who will pull our economy through these difficult times. Small and medium sized businesses are the heart of the engine room. We have to—and we will—do everything we can to assist them work with them incentivise them and encourage them and this bill is the first part of that. 
If one summarised this bill in a couple of words one would say that it is about cash flow and it is about compliance. I have been both a business owner and an employer and I have advised many many businesses. If one talks to businesses they will say that the things that help them relate to cash flow and compliance particularly when times are tough. Cash flow now is not only being hurt by the hard economic times but is being doubly squeezed by the credit crunch with banks more and more reluctant to lend. Even good strong businesses need help with cash flow. If we look at just one provision—the getting rid of the 5 percent uplift in provisional tax—we see that it will put another quarter of a billion dollars back into business accounts where it needs to be. That alone will have the significant effect of helping businesses manage their cash flow—and that is just one measure. 
When we talk about compliance let us remember that it is not just about compliance cost; it is also about compliance time. So many businesses spend a huge amount of unproductive time working through Government red tape and bureaucracy. This bill—and I commend the Minister of Revenue for the bill—goes a significant way towards reducing some of that compliance time and money. 
I will mention a couple of the provisions that in that regard really are highlights for me. They are ones that perhaps have not been talked about so much but are the ones that as a business owner I thought would be a real help to these businesses. They are about GST particularly the increase in the threshold at which tax payable must be accounted for on an invoice basis rather than a payments basis. This may not jump out at people who have not run businesses but I can tell them that if they have a small business and they hit that threshold and suddenly have to account for GST on money they do not even have it hurts and it is hard. By moving that threshold from $1.3 million to $2 million a significant number of businesses will not have to deal with that extra cash-flow hurdle. That will make a big difference and by itself will make businesses viable that might not otherwise have been viable. When we add that into the increase in the number of businesses that will now be able to file on a 6-monthly basis and the number of extra businesses that can choose whether they wish to register for GST we see that we will start to make real inroads into compliance costs on small business. 
Hon Darren Hughes 
: Has the National Party paid its GST yet? 
AMY ADAMS 
: Labour members can huff and puff all they like but these things will help and will keep businesses viable that would not have been viable under Labour’s rule. That is the long and the short of it. 
I am happy to support this bill because it will buffer a lot of businesses from the worst of this recession. It will make that difference. It is not a silver bullet; we have never said it is a silver bullet nor have we ever said that it is the full extent of what we will do. But it will make a big difference. It will keep businesses alive that would not have been alive under Labour’s rules—let us remember that. I am proud to support this bill because the National Government is doing what it said it would do: getting in behind the engine room of this economy. We are telling business that we are on their side. For once businesses are hearing from the Government that it is here to make their lives easier. This bill is a good start in that direction and I am pleased to support it. Thank you. 
Bill read a first time.