Resellers and MSPs gush over federal budget

The small business initiatives from last night's federal budget have been well-received by companies in the Australian IT channel.

The government announced yesterday that small businesses would immediately receive a tax deduction for assets costing less than $20,000 per item, up from the current $1,000 threshold. This "accelerated depreciation" initiative applies to an unlimited number of items and starts now, running until June 2017.

Treasurer Joe Hockey also reduced the company tax rate to 28.5 percent for businesses with a yearly turnover of less than $2 million. This is a 1.5 percent reduction from the current rate of 30 percent.

As a further growth stimulus, the federal government will provide a further 5 percent tax discount to unincorporated businesses with annual turnover of less than $2 million. This handout applies from 1 July.

[Related: All the tech news from Budget 2015]

"[The] tax deduction available for purchases up to $20,000 will incentivise small business to invest for growth," said Jamie Warner, CEO of North Sydney MSP eNerds. "As an MSP, infrastructure purchases go hand in hand with growth and so the budget announcement is quite pleasing,"

Warner, who is also the president of the Sydney chapter for the Entrepreneurs Organisation, praised the work of Minister for Small Business Bruce Bilson.

"[I] was lucky enough to sit with the Minister for Small Business, Bruce Bilson, in Canberra this year via a roundtable meeting to discuss the amendments to the Employee Share Scheme. I’m personally very supportive of the work that the Government and in particular Bruce Bilson is doing for small business."

The managing director of another managed services provider, XCentral's Philip Patelis, is also rapt with last night's announcements.

"It's great, small businesses really need this. We really don't do enough to encourage growth in small businesses," Patelis told CRN. "They should treat small businesses like first home buyers."

"The $20,000 break is another thing to help small businesses – very positive move… We could use [the breaks] for hiring staff or buying equipment for staff."

Next: how do small resellers feel about the budget?