What like your tax return?

Seriously butcher I don't know how you didn't top yourself after all these years of infinite impositions and injustices, thwarting you at every turn in your noble and self-sacrificing attempts to run a business.

They're killing us! They're killing small business! It's a nightmare out there! A jungle! Oh the humanity!

It's one trial and tribulation after another isn't it. Of course you had to do it as you wanted to help the country and be the backbone of society, there was nothing in it for you, you just had to soldier on, filling out forms and wasting all that ink, and paying people their rightful entitlements.

Maybe they should have some support groups for put-upon business owners, where they can sit and watch videos of happier times where there was no health and safety, no food hygiene standards and slave labour was allowed, you know, when those scum workers appreciated all the sacrifices you made to avoid income tax.

Who would have though that to run a business you might have to invest in some accounting software, or pay an accountant. The government should provide all that! Always with the hand out...

Houellebecq, having been in business for almost a quarter of a century, I can tell you it was a great way of life. WAS.

Unfortunately those days have passed.

Now, how did you go with finding that unpaid worker, still searching are we.

And remember, much f this unpaid work is performed on Sundays, or after working a normal day.

So in reality it means we miss out on all the penalty rates and loading that the workers, the ones we do this for, would not dream of doing for nothing.

I await your findings.

You are making a bit of a meal of this, rehctub.

Your description of what you are obliged to do is in error.

>>First, you often have to hound the new worker to CORRECTLY fill out their forms. Not easy in butcher land, I can tell you.<<

No you don't.

You are obliged to give the new employee a Standard Choice form (NAT 13080) within 28 days of their start date. You are not required to chase them up, let alone "hound" them. If they don't give it back to you properly completed, you simply put their money into a qualifying Fund of your own choice. Easy.

http://www.ato.gov.au/businesses/content.aspx?menuid=0&doc=/content/25193.htm&page=78&H78

When/if they do finally give you the form, you simply start paying into that Fund instead - you are not required to do anything more than that. And for heaven's sake, splash out for a computer - all Funds allow direct deposits, you can register the employee online which takes five minutes, and from then on it's a minute a month/quarter, maximum, per employee. The Fund keeps the records and does all the reconciliation for you.

Life is tough enough without making it unnecessarily more difficult for yourself.

This has been a Public Service announcement in support of small business.

P..I am always happy to be corrected, I was not aware of these changes.

I have recently engaged a contractor, looks like he will have to now go cause it's simply not worth the hassle.

What a shame.

P, may I suggest you look this section up at the bottom of the link you provided.

What if you haven't met your super obligations

Just confirms the risks we take as deployers and unpaid tax/super collectors.

Tell me, why should we face these risks, considering we don't get paid in the first place.

In reality, super should be paid to the employee, and it is they who should be forced to place it in the fund of their choice, or risk being fined.

Don't you think?

After all, we are paying for it, surely they can deal with it.

That's not too much to ask is it?

P, sorry to harp on this, but an even simpler option would be for employers to combine super, with our PAGY contributions, and let the government deal with the employees super component.

After all said and done, it (occupational super) was the governments baby in the first place, so what right do they have to simply palm it off to us.

Now back to your, and other posters point of it simply being a matter of transferring money.

Many small business owners are in business as they are not qualified to earn a decent wage, yet are highly skilled in what they do, so the easy option is to do their own thing. And many do it well.

So, when it comes to paying their employees super, they have to pay someone else to do it for them, much like their bass , yet another unpaid job.

At the end of the day, all I am suggesting is that this type of burden be lifted from small business owners,or at the ver least, simplified, especially given that so many today are doing it tough.

I know so many who simply refuse to employ staff any more and, given that contractors are starting to be treated like staff, lord knows where we will end up.

Working for someone else is one option, but can that last?

The slowing of the mining industry is going to make the jobs market very competitive.