Shadowing Practice: Businesses continue their budget backlash | 9 News Australia - Learn English Speaking with YouTube
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Well, the budget backlash is far from over this morning.
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Well, the budget backlash is far from over this morning.
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Small business owners from the PM's own electorate slamming the changes.
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Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, good piece this morning.
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66-year-old Richard Dignan, who owns Black Forest Smokehouse in Marrickville,
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says, We're working seven days a week.
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You work longer and you hope that you can make some money at the end of it.
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The hope that families have is now evaporating.
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Elsewhere, owner of Hawkesbury Flooring Extra in Windsor,
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Jennifer Mann posted this AI generated photo online writing,
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You build the business, pay wages,
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pay rent, carry floor samples like a pack mule,
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and your silent business partner,
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Albo, still clocks in for his cut every quarter.
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Jennifer joins us now.
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Jennifer, good morning to you.
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You are fed up, huh?
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Yeah, it's not great.
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How will the changes impact you?
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Carl, I've had my business for 10 years and I've had a five-year-old
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and an 11-year-old and now they're 15 and 21 so I've missed out on so much of their childhood and sleep,
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birthday parties and school excursions.
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On top of that I've had employees and I've paid my taxes.
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To think that when I pass on the business I sell
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and I have to give up to 47% after on the back of the hard work that I've done,
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it's pretty insulting.
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There are hundreds, literally hundreds of thousands of businesses like yours looking at this policy and just scratching their heads,
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frustrated, angry, anxious.
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What are they saying and feeling?
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I guess small businesses are just frustrated that from what I just said,
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you know, the work that we've put in and the Sundays we've missed and everything like that,
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to get another tax, especially after Albo has promised all the things that he wouldn't do that he did,
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it's not very great.
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Tell me about the taxes you pay,
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about how business is at the moment.
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We know it's getting tougher.
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It is getting tougher.
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In my industry, it's affecting so many different people.
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I would say I'd have maybe an installer a week asking me for work,
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which means that other stores like mine are also feeling the cost of living rising is not great.
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Yeah, so you can feel it in everything.
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Like, you know, I give out free measuring quotes I'm going I run a diesel car,
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you know, and that's not great.
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Cost of living for those buying the product.
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You've got the taxes, you've got rising interest rates,
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rising cost of fuel, any input is going up, right?
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I don't know how small businesses,
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some of you are going to survive.
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And then on the back end of it now,
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out of the blue, this comes.
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That's right.
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And, you know, our small business owners are definitely copying it all.
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We're not passing it all on.
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We're absorbing it because we have to be competitive and we want to stay in the game,
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so we have to just cope with ourselves,
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which we do, and we don't mind.
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Pardon the pun, but you have the floor.
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What do you want to say to the Prime Minister?
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Maybe if we start looking at getting our proper returns in gas and we start taxing international business better,
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maybe if he cuts the red tape and lets small business owners employ more people,
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get more apprentices in, and actually let us be the backbone of this country,
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that would be great.
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That's what I think.
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Hawkesbury flooring extra in Windsor.
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Thank you.
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Well said, sister.
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Keep fighting.
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Thank you.
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Thank you, Sarah.
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Thank you, Carl.
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All right, well, let's see if we can get some clarity now on the different changes that we're seeing.
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Federal Cabinet Secretary and Economist Andrew Charlton joins me live now in the studio.
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Andrew, I know you couldn't hear everything that Jennifer was saying then,
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but she was essentially summarising how small businesses are feeling and you would have seen,
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you know, the backlash that the government's copped this past week.
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So how are you addressing the concerns of people like Jennifer?
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Well first let me say that small businesses really are the beating heart of Australia's economy.
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Small businesses employ more than half of all Australians.
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They're the backbone of our economy I say that as somebody who started a small business,
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who grew that small business and we know that it's really tough for small businesses right now.
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They've got costs going up,
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they've got interest rates going up and there's a lot in this budget to help small businesses.
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We've got lost carryback reforms which will really help.
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We're introducing a permanent instant asset write-off that will help.
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Sole traders will get the benefit of the tax cut that is in the budget.
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I want to make one point though on CGT
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because it was raised and I think Sarah there is a point here
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that isn't really well understood at the moment and that's
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that the government isn't taking away the CGT discount and replacing it with nothing.
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We're taking away the the CGT discount and replacing it with a different kind of discount.
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A kind of discount that is based on inflation and
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that discount will in some ways be better and fairer than the previous type of discount.
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How's that?
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I mean how can it possibly be better for small businesses when they actually have to pay more tax?
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Well it will depend on the nature of the business.
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Yeah but so what is it capped at?
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Is it a two million dollar revenue which is obviously not inclusive of profit?
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Well Well there are some CGT exemptions for small business
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which is absolutely right but I'm talking about the main element of the CGT tax.
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There will be people who end up paying less CGT tax under the new regime than they did under the last regime.
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Well it will depend because on the last regime there were assets that were really harshly treated by that regime.
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Assets that got a really punitive level of tax.
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But can you give me an example?
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Sure.
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I'll give you an example.
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My electorate is Parramatta.
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In Parramatta there are a lot of apartments around where I live
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and those apartments have had pretty low capital growth over the last five years.
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So if you bought an apartment in Parramatta over the last five years and you sold it now,
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you'd be lucky to sell it for a 10% capital gain.
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Now under the old regime,
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Sarah, you would have paid tax on that 10% capital gain.
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However over the last five years there has been inflation of more than 10%
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and what the new regime does is it gives you credit for that inflation.
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So under the new regime,
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people in those apartments in Parramatta...
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So you're talking about apartments and housing and investment there,
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we're not talking about small businesses and start-ups.
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It's also relevant to small business.
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But I'm asking you about small business.
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Let me finish the example because it's also relevant to a small business.
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Because these people will pay less tax because there's been more inflation than there has been in capital gain.
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What percentage of the market or the sector does that make up?
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Who are the people who are paying less?
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How many of them are there?
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Everybody will pay less if they had a lower capital gain over the period
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that they owned the asset than twice the rate of inflation.
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So is this outcry unwarranted then?
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No, I think there are real concerns and start-ups
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and some small businesses are a real concern
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because what I just explained is that we've got this new type of capital gains discount which is based on inflation.
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And the point that many start-up founders,
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the point that many small businesses have been making is valid.
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It's a valid point because that new regime doesn't interact well
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if you have a really low capital base because you've got nothing to inflate off.
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So there are real concerns out there.
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The government recognised those concerns,
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the Treasurer recognised them before the budget,
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there was a statement in the budget recognising them and we are consulting on them.
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So we definitely hear those concerns.
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But it doesn't sound like you are listening because there is a lot of confusion out there.
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That's probably the government's fault for not making this crystal clear.
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It sounds as though it's a bit undercooked
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and it sounds as though you haven't thought through the impact it's going to have
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because the fact that you're even flagging potential changes now suggests
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that this has been ill thought through and that the policy may not have even been completed.
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Well, I don't think that's true.
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In the budget it was clearly stated that we recognise that there were special circumstances of start-ups,
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businesses that start with a really low capital base don't benefit so much from that new indexation regime.
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We recognise that problem, we've been consulting with business and talking to them about it.
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Alright, the death tax, the changes to that,
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to those discretionary family trusts,
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is that Is that just a polite way of saying you've conceded
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that this is a massive political miscalculation if you are going to make changes?
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No. Are you even going to contemplate that?
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Look, I don't think there's anybody who needs to be paying more tax on an inheritance after these changes than before.
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And there are two reasons for that.
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First of all, any existing arrangements are grandfathered and unaffected.
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Secondly, anybody going forward who wants to create a testamentary trust,
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there are a range of options for them to choose which will not be affected by these taxes.
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You can see there will be higher taxes though.
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I don't think anybody needs to be paying higher taxes on an inheritance as a result of these changes.
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That's very clear to me.
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Alright, it doesn't seem that clear.
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Maybe there needs to be some messaging issues resolved there.
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Andrew, thanks for coming in.
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Appreciate it.
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Do you know the whole CGT thing?
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It reminds me of this.
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A birthday cake from a cake shop and GST is in place.
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Do I pay more or less for that birthday cake?
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Well, it will depend whether cakes today in that shop are subject to sales tax or they're not.
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Clear as mud.
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Let's move on.
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Thank you.
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Context & Background
The recent budget changes in Australia have sparked significant backlash among small business owners. The dialogue in the video highlights the frustrations experienced by individuals like Richard Dignan, owner of Black Forest Smokehouse, and Jennifer Mann, who runs Hawkesbury Flooring Extra. Both share a common sentiment of feeling overburdened by rising costs, increased taxation, and the challenges of balancing work with family life. Their stories underscore a broader narrative of anxiety and frustration within the small business community as they confront new financial pressures.
Top 5 Phrases for Daily Communication
- "We're working seven days a week." - This emphasizes the dedication and hard work often required in small businesses.
- "The hope that families have is now evaporating." - A poignant expression of the emotional toll financial stress can have on business owners and their families.
- "It's not great." - A simple yet powerful way to convey dissatisfaction or frustration.
- "To think that when I pass on the business, I have to give up to 47%." - This highlights feelings of unfairness related to taxation on hard-earned success.
- "Cost of living is rising." - A critical phrase that reflects the economic challenges faced by many today.
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