A Federal Labor Party politician has launched an online survey designed to enable small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to present their views on the Business Activity Statement (BAS).
The "Simplify BAS for Small Business" site, developed by Kevin Rudd, the federal member for the seat of Griffith in Brisbane's south, includes a series of informative pages, as well as the twenty-question survey.
Among the twenty questions are:
- Do you think there are parts of the BAS form which are not relevant to paying your GST and PAYG?
- Are there particular questions on the BAS form which you have found particularly frustrating and would like to see simplified or deleted?
- Have you relied fully/in part on a professional accountant or bookkeeper to maintain your BAS records and complete your BAS form?
- How many hours per month have you or your staff spent on maintaining BAS records and completing BAS forms?
- How much have you had to pay so far to professional accountants and/or bookkeepers to help you meet your GST, PAYG and BAS obligations?
"Business Activity Statements must be simplified as a matter of urgency if local small businesses are to be able to make a profit," Rudd says.
He says the site is not only asking for local small businesses' BAS stories, it wants them to nominate what changes they want to see to the BAS.
"I will then collate southside small business experiences and requests for BAS change (including those received offline) and put those in a formal submission to the Treasurer and the Tax Office.
"Unless the BAS is simplified as a matter of urgency, I fear many southside small businesses will fail," Rudd says.
Visit the site
here.