Regulation Impact Statement – Department of the Treasury
In the 2018-19 Budget, the Government announced that it would extend the $20,000 instant asset write-off for a further 12 months to 30 June 2019 for businesses with aggregated annual turnover less than $10 million. Enabling legislation, the Treasury Laws Amendment (Accelerated Depreciation for Small Business Entities) Bill 2018, was introduced to Parliament on 24 May 2018.
The measure aims to boost for a further year small business activity and investment, through providing cash flow benefits and a reduction of red tape.
The Treasury prepared and certified a Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), which was assessed by the Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) as compliant with the Government’s RIS requirements, but not best practice. The OBPR considered that to achieve best practice the RIS should have included more evidence on how the preferred option delivers the highest net benefit to the community and more discussion on the views of stakeholders.
The RIS estimates that the one year extension will provide a saving in regulatory costs for small businesses of $2.2 million. The OBPR agreed to this estimate.