SMEs In Dental Industry Get Budget Boost

In a pre-election budget that needed to provide an incentive to allow small businesses to create jobs, yet retain an eye on long-term deficit reduction, small businesses were the winner. That's the view according to the Australian Dental Industry Association (ADIA), the peak business organisation representing manufacturers and suppliers of dental products.

Speaking from Parliament House shortly after the Treasurer delivered the budget, the ADIA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Troy Williams, argued that the best outcome for the dental industry in the budget was the simplification of the rules that allow for immediate tax deductibility for asset purchases costing less than $20,000 until 30 June 2017, and the increasing of the threshold for eligibility from $2 million to $10 million.

"Never has it been a better time for small and medium-sized businesses to go out and invest in new assets. Dental practices can go out and buy new dental chairs and the small businesses that supply them can invest in new infrastructure," Mr Williams said.

Another initiative sure to be welcomed by small businesses in the dental industry is the reduction of the company tax rate to 27.5 per cent, starting with businesses with a turnover less than $10 million on 1 July this year. This will deliver a lower tax rate for around 870,000 businesses nationwide that employ over 3.4 million workers.

"Most small businesses reinvest their profits into their business to help them grow, create jobs and operate sustainably. A reduction in the corporate tax rate provides greater flexibility to do just that," Mr Williams said.

ADIA also noted the commitment to provide $1.7 billion over four years from FY2016-17 for a new Child and Adult Public Dental Scheme to be delivered by the states and territories under a National Partnership Agreement (NPA), replacing a range of other programs that provided Australian Government funding for dental services.

"The dental industry would have naturally liked to see a greater commitment – it's difficult to imagine circumstances when this wouldn't be the case. However, given the government's philosophical approach to funding and delivering dental care and the constraints associated with returning a budget to surplus, this modest funding commitment is arguably the best that could be achieved in the circumstances," Mr Williams concluded.