The announcement also puts them ahead of their partners in the strained opposition alliance,the WA Liberals,who have long railed against payroll tax because of the burden it placed on smaller businesses.
WA’s payroll tax is 5.5 per cent on the taxable wages paid by employers with a total wages bill above $1 million.
On top of raising the threshold to $1.3 million,Love vowed to introduce a 15 per cent tax rebate for businesses with taxable wages below $4 million,tapering off to businesses at $7.5 million.
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Both measures were expected to benefit 11,400 WA businesses and would cost $292 million per year,but Love said it would generate an economic return of about $850 million annually and create about 3500 jobs.
“These costs can easily be accommodated by the GST windfall and will deliver a significant net return to WA’s economy through increased productivity,investment and employment,” Love said.
“Under WA’s payroll tax arrangements,businesses in WA have less capacity to increase employment,invest in the day-to-day running of their business,or expand their operations compared to those in other states.