The reseller campaigns to capitalise on $20k tax break

Hardware resellers are racing to win over small businesses in the aftermath of tax breaks announced at the Federal Budget last week.

Treasurer Joe Hockey last week revealed that small businesses would immediately receive a tax deduction for assets costing less than $20,000 per item, applicable to an unlimited number of items.

Online reseller Mwave.com.au started a campaign on Monday directly appealing to small business owners to spend up before the financial year end.

"Related banner and content will be posted on our home page and our blog [on Monday afternoon]. Our newsletter would also spread this to our subscribers as well at 2pm," Mwave chief executive Victor Lee told CRN.

Harvey Norman is pushing a similar message, hosting a microsite dedicated to getting small businesses to do their spending before 30 June, in order to benefit from the tax break as soon as possible.

The microsite allows business customers to create their own "bundle" and shows links to not only computing, but televisions, home appliances, bedding, furniture, flooring and bathroom items.

The retail giant's shares hit $4.62 on the news, their highest point since October 2007.

JB Hi-Fi is another electronics retailer expected to benefit from Budget 2015, though as of Monday afternoon it had not started a budget-specific campaign online. JB Hi-Fi's share price rose to $21.46 within days of Budget 2015, a near 18-month high.

Wesfarmers-owned stationery chain Officeworks had advertisements running on the front page of its website, saying: "It's the perfect time for small business to take advantage of the $20,000 tax break and set up their workspace today."

It's not just the large resellers hoping for a windfall from the government initiative. Dennis Evans, boss of regional reseller Dennis' Computers and Backup Service, told CRN last week that he'll send out emails to his customers.

"A lot of clients have servers and PCs over six years old. They’re just holding out because of the lack of confidence. Now they can write it straight off, I think they’ll jump on the bandwagon," he said at the time.

As a small business owner himself, Evans was also excited at the prospect of splashing out for his own company. He was eyeing off a Tesla wall-mounted battery to reduce his power bills.

"I’ve already sent emails out last night around how I can get hold of these and take advantage of that $20k," he said.

The $20,000 limit for "accelerated depreciation" is up from the old $1,000 threshold. The new rules apply now, running until June 2017.