FOR RELEASE 1ST NOVEMBER 2003

For more information contact:
info@villagemall.com.au

VILLAGEMALL®
 Helping small business survive the sea of government regulations.

Most small business find themselves drowning in regulation
 and paddling like mad to get up to speed with electronic methods of compliance.
 

Brisbane, Australia,- November 2003 - VillageMall®, the premier provider of Web-based applications for small business, added "employee superannuation" reporting to help small businesses meet their obligations under the new ATO Superannuation reporting requirements. The first return, under the new regulations, was due on the 28th October so most small business are now finding out just how time consuming these new ATO requirements are. While most of the issues were pointed out by the Small Business Coalition in their letter to the Minister in June, no changes were made. Forty-four per cent of the Australian workforce works in businesses with fewer than 20 employees, that's  lot of business reportage.

"Complying with government regulations about employment, taxation and environment hits small and medium Australian businesses for $17 billion a year in compliance costs – $33,000 each. Tax compliance costs made up 36 per cent of this." Productivity Commission chairman Gary Banks told the Small Business Coalition in March.

Its official the Australian Tax Act is now over 7000 pages long. That‘s a far cry from the original Tax Act of 1936, which was a mere 120 pages. How ironic it is then, that in 2003, the ”handy guide‘ to help you do your own tax return, —The Tax Pack“, is now 128 pages in length that‘s 8 pages more than the entire original 1936 Tax Act. And if that‘s not ironic enough, a large chunk of the new legislation is titled —The Simplified Tax System.
"Reporting requirements of the New Tax System may have made businesses know more about their enterprises but compliance costs, a disproportionate tax burden and complexity are still problems and it appears the Government hasn't got a clue about the costs its own rules create." says Jo Studdert, The Australian.

"Collectively, these issues undermine the operational efficiency of small business and add unnecessary costs that can reduce competitiveness," says Roger Cotton, CEO of the National Institute of Accountants.

"With all this in mind, VillageMall has extended its existing instant BAS/IAS reporting with Employee-Superannuation services aimed at meeting the new ATO requirements. No small business can risk tax penalties of up to $3300 per employee for not meeting these new government regulations." commented Charles Moore.

Established in May 1999, VillageMall provides a complete suit of management services to Australian small business organisations. 


About VillageMall

Web-Office Provides the following services:

  • Financial Management (full feature accounting, payroll services, including complete BAS/IAS)

  • Customer Relationship Management ( including Contacts and Customer Case Tracking)

  • Timesheets and employee Expense processing

  • Project Management 

  • Appointment Scheduling

  • Sales Force Automation ( leads, prospects, customers)

  • Electronic Document and Records Management

More information here.

About VillageMall

VillageMall is the pioneer,  in developing secure next generation Internet applications for small business. 
VillageMall is a privately held company, founded in 1999 and is headquartered in Brisbane, Australia.
For more information please email info@villagemall.com.au or visit the company Web site at www.Villagemall.com.au.