For immediate use
July 21 2010
Labor Government Superannuation Levy is flawed: VACC
VACC, the peak Automotive Industry body in Victoria, believes the Australian
Government’s decision to increase the employer funded compulsory superannuation
levy as flawed.
The Labor Government announced in May 2010 that Australian employers would, over
the course of the next decade, be required to pay 12 percent of payroll into employee
superannuation, in lieu of the current 9 percent.
VACC, along with members of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry
(ACCI) has signed an Accord rejecting the proposed increase.
“VACC is concerned that this increase was announced without consultation and that it
was not even recommended by the Government-commissioned Tax and
Superannuation Reviews,” VACC Executive Director, David Purchase, said.
“This increase in employer obligations amounts to a 33 percent increase to business
costs, equating to between $20 and $23 billion a year in higher employer payments
once phased in.
“And who’s footing the bill for all this? The Federal Government or the Resources
Mining Tax? No, it is the nation’s one million employers, most of whom are small to
medium businesses, and whose main retirement incomes is simply their business
assets.
“The impression being portrayed is that the levy will be funded by the Government
through the new mining industry tax. But this simply is not the case,” said Mr
Purchase.
In signing the Accord, VACC, and other ACCI members, aims to highlight the impact
this will have on what is often referred to as the ‘engine-room’ of the Australian
economy – small and medium business.
“As an employer association, representing approximately 5,500 small businesses in
Victoria and Tasmania, we are more than within our rights to complain about this
superannuation levy,” Mr Purchase said.
“We are not opposed to a sustainable retirement incomes policy in Australia, but call
for one that is funded in a balanced manner which does not impose a disproportionate
burden on the business community,” Mr Purchase said.
Ends.
NEWS 
