“We understand that to help accommodate this increase the government has proposed a reduction in the company tax rate. More may however be needed to ensure this change is not overly burdensome.

“Many small businesses in rural Australia will not receive any benefit from the reduction in the company tax rate because they are partnerships or sole proprietors. They may benefit from write-down concessions for capital expenditure but these may not provide the assistance they need to implement the change.

“Small businesses are the life-blood of rural and regional communities and the government needs to ensure that these proposed changes do not have a negative effect on them or their employees.

“We would urge the government to open the lines of communication with small business, particularly those in rural and regional Australia, prior to the implementation of these changes to ensure that small businesses are protected,” Baird concluded.