New data from MYOB reveals small business owners have a very succinct wish list when it comes to the release of the federal budget next week.

The leading cloud accounting solution canvassed business owners ahead of the budget to check in on their optimism and what they would like to see from the government in the year ahead.

Here is what small business owners want from the budget

Unsurprisingly, tax cuts are high on the agenda, following a difficult twelve months. Yet despite the impact of the pandemic, almost six in 10 small business owners expect the economy to improve in the next 12 months and 84 percent of businesses are either back to normal (pre-COVID-19) operations, or confident they will soon be.

Helen Lea, MYOB CEEO said the responses suggest the government’s various support measures, including JobKeeper had a positive impact, with economic recovery a possibility for many businesses.

“We know that JobKeeper was an effective interim measure, with 78 per cent of businesses that accessed the scheme saying it allowed them to continue trading through the pandemic.

“The survey also reveals almost half SME owners believe this Budget will deliver benefits to help their business,” Lea said.

Slashing red tape and tac cuts wanted

The top measures business owners want to see in the Budget are a lowering of the company tax rate (34 per cent), cutting red tape (27 per cent), conversion of the instant asset write off to a permanent policy (19 per cent), policies that encourage small business superannuation contributions (18 per cent), incentives for further digitisation, and making it easier to access government procurement (both 15 per cent).

“Next week’s Budget is another chance for the Government to show their strong commitment to small business and to give small business owners the confidence to invest and to create more jobs as Australia continues its economic recovery,” Lea concluded.

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