Scott AlastairALASTAIR SCOTT (National—Wairarapa): Mr Chair—Hon Clayton Cosgrove: Who? Oh the deputy chair! Oh!ALASTAIR SCOTT: Thank you for noting that Mr Cosgrove. I would also like to rise and reiterate a little bit of what Fletcher Tabuteau has just spoken about—Fletcher Tabuteau: No—no!ALASTAIR SCOTT: Believe it or not—believe it or not. That is discussing—Andrew Bayly: Professor.ALASTAIR SCOTT: —the professor—and to discuss the accounting income method as being very very welcome by the small to medium sized enterprise (SME) community by small business people and by anyone who has had to pay and estimate provisional tax. On this side of the Chamber at least I know there are a lot of people who have had to estimate provisional tax because they come from a small business background—Andrew Bayly: And even pay it.ALASTAIR SCOTT: —and even pay it—and I am looking forward to hearing from people on that side of the Chamber and I know there are some who have had to estimate their provisional tax and have had to pay it. And there is a hand going up there from Mr Cosgrove and I accept that he is a very strong advocate of this pay-as-you-go—if you want to call it that—system. But I would be very interested to see others who have never paid or had to assess provisional tax discuss the matter with some empathy at least for those who have had to do so because it really has been a pain in the neck.Provisional tax is and has been for a long time a very difficult and cumbersome and—actually my main point is that it has been a stressful method and regime of estimating and paying tax. We talk about removing compliance costs. We talk about simplifying the tax collection system which is true. But the main thing and the reason why people come to me and say that other than the extra police and other than the ultra-fast broadband (UFB) roll-out—this piece of legislation is the most supported by my constituents that I have seen go through this House.Hon Clayton Cosgrove: It's going to be huge!ALASTAIR SCOTT: It is. It is really. Fletcher Tabuteau said he was excited. I know there a lot of SMEs out there that are totally relieved. Let us face it there is enough going on in the lives of small businessmen and women to not have to be concerned about the bloody tax bill. They have got more things to worry about: they have got customers they have got interest rates they have got the foreign exchange rate and they have got global economic conditions. They have got the marketplace to be concerned about. They have got their cost of labour and cost of production and having to be concerned about paying their tax—or estimating accurately and then having to find the cash to pay their provisional tax—is really a burden that should not be there in the first place.Mr Coates mentioned it in the second reading: it is all about cash flow. Cash flow is king. Cash is king. To have someone have to pay a provisional tax payment because they did well last year but not so well this year just screws up that whole cash flow system and that is what can really bury a small business operator. There is no need for that to happen and that is why this pay-as-you-go method of calculating your tax is a very very welcome improvement to the tax system. I cannot overstate that. As I say many people have come to me to say that it was a fantastic announcement—I think it was by Minister Foss at the time—and they are looking forward to not having to deal with that stress of having to estimate and find the cash to pay tax from last year that is now going to be due the following year. Thank you for this opportunity to contribute to this debate this evening.