A survey of owners of small and medium-sized businesses found more than half unhappy with an expected rise in GST, and nearly half unhappy with changes to ACC.Thirty one percent of business owners in the MYOB Business Monitor survey were dissatisfied with
A survey of owners of small and medium-sized businesses found more than half unhappy with an expected rise in GST, and nearly half unhappy with changes to ACC.
Thirty one percent of business owners in the MYOB Business Monitor survey were dissatisfied with the Government's support of businesses such as their own, with only 19 percent satisfied with the Government's performance.
The survey of more than 1000 business owners nationwide, conducted by Colmar Brunton, found 52 percent were unhappy with the possibility of an increase in GST, with only 8 percent supporting the idea. The Government is expected to announce a rise to 15 percent in the budget next week.
The MYOB survey also found 29 percent of businesses opposed property tax changes expected in the budget, with only 8 percent seeing them as helpful to their business.
At the same time, the number finding ACC changes unhelpful or very unhelpful climbed to 45 percent, up from 40 percent in November.
The number of businesses finding it difficult to understand which legislation applied to their business rose to 42 percent, compared to 37 percent under the previous government.
MYOB New Zealand general manager Julian Smith said that figure could be seen as a challenge for National's business-friendly agenda.
The Government needed to work more closely with business to understand how changes affected them, and to work harder to communicate how those changes should apply, Mr Smith said.
"We know that the current information channels used by the Government, such as their online initiatives, just don't resonate with most business owners, with only 3 percent consulting the business.govt.nz website for information."
