Thompson welcomes Labor backflip on JobKeeper Payroll Tax
Member for Herbert Phillip Thompson has welcomed the State Labor Government’s announcement not to slug struggling North Queensland businesses with Payroll Tax on JobKeeper Payments.
Mr Thompson said it’s disappointing the Queensland Labor Government dragged its heels on the issue for more than a month but praised the North Queensland business community for its lobbying efforts.
“I’ve been proud to join North Queensland business leaders in taking this important fight up to the Queensland Labor Government. We saw other jurisdictions across Australia act swiftly on this issue in early April- it’s a shame the Queensland Government had to be dragged kicking and screaming,” Mr Thompson said.
“Charging Payroll Tax on JobKeeper payments would have been kicking Townsville businesses in the guts while they were already down.
“The business community has been overwhelmingly positive in its feedback to me on the JobKeeper payment but were extremely concerned about the fact that they could be hit with an extra tax bill by the State Labor Government.
“As usual, the three State Labor MPs sat on their hands and did nothing to raise the issue with their George Street puppet masters. It shouldn’t take a Federal MP to get the State Government to look after Townsville, but I will stop at nothing to ensure we weather this crisis as best we can.”
The Federal Government’s JobKeeper package is worth $130-billion over six months. The $1500 per fortnight per employee wage subsidy has been taken up by almost 730,000 organisations covering around 4.7 million employees nation-wide.
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