Senator David Leyonhjelm has today pledged that elected Liberal Democrats Senators will introduce legislation that would free taxi drivers and ride sharers from the obligation to fill out the blizzard of paperwork required by our tax laws while their revenue is less than $75,000.
In a video being distributed to Uber drivers around the country today, Senator Leyonhjelm says it’s not fair that taxi drivers and ride sharers are treated differently to people running other businesses.
“If you run a market stall on the weekends, or have your own start-up business, provided your revenue is less than $75,000 a year, our tax laws don’t require you to have an ABN and do BAS Statements four times a year. Nor do you have to register for the GST and take on the burden of being the Government’s tax collector,” Senator Leyonhjelm says.
“This is good, because it encourages entrepreneurs and small businesses to invest and try new ideas before they have bureaucracy and extra administration imposed on them. But if you are a taxi or a ride-sharing driver, a strange and outdated rule means you have to do all this paperwork before you even earn one dollar. You must have an ABN and GST registration just to get started.
“That isn’t fair. Taxi and ride-sharing drivers should be treated no differently to any other business. They deserve a level playing field when it comes to the burden of GST collection. That’s why, if I am re-elected to the Senate, I will introduce legislation to change this.
“I want to ensure that all small businesses, including taxi and ridesharing drivers, are treated equally, and suffer no more bureaucratic obligations and paperwork than any other small businesses. That includes being subject to the same tax rules. That’s what I call fair.”
