Aaron Morey

Chief Economist

The WA Liberal Opposition has today responded to a key Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA proposal — reducing the heavy payroll tax burden on WA businesses.

CCIWA welcomes the commitment to payroll tax relief, with the Opposition vowing to provide a 100% rebate on payroll tax liability for businesses with payrolls up to $1.5 million and for businesses with payrolls between $1.5 million and $3 million, to provide a partial rebate tapering down from 100% after $1.5 million.

Today’s announcement follows a sustained CCIWA-led campaign to resolve WA’s payroll tax burden.

The State Government has recently taken the important step to lift the payroll tax threshold to $1 million. Yet despite this, WA businesses still face a much higher payroll tax burden than in other states. This puts WA businesses at a competitive disadvantage, stifling the growth of key sectors of the economy important for diversification, including manufacturing. With the recent fix to the GST system, there is now no reason why WA businesses should face higher taxes for creating jobs. Faced with a higher tax burden, the WA business community is fighting with one arm tied behind their back.

Today’s announcement from the Opposition would help to remove some of the competitive disadvantage faced by WA businesses, the first such signal on this critical issue ahead of the election.

Our State’s greatest imperative during the recovery from COVID-19 will be to make businesses stronger and better-positioned to create jobs.

CCIWA looks forward to driving further reforms that will bolster and sustain WA’s economic recovery, building upon the Federal Government’s acknowledged focus on empowering a business-led revival. Prior to Christmas, CCIWA will release additional policy options for alleviating payroll tax to enhance the competitiveness of the WA economy and we encourage all major parties to remain open to further alterations to their policy positions.