By KEVIN TAYLOR
National's economic policy puts small business to the fore.
Among its plans is one to study compliance exemptions for companies below a certain size.
Finance spokesman David Carter says the economic policy recognises that New Zealand is not a nation of large companies but a country of small firms
wanting to get bigger.
Announced on Monday, the policy includes significant tax cut plans and an assault on compliance costs.
"Imagine the impact on our economy by making it easier for each of these businesses to take on one extra employee," Carter said.
He said the particular makeup of New Zealand business - a country of small firms - made business here unique.
That was why National's strategy of lifting the country's long-term growth rates targeted business people.
Only 4 per cent of firms employ 20 or more and only 2 per cent employ more than 50.
National plans to reduce the top personal rate on earnings over $60,000 from 39c to 32c and the corporate rate from 33c to 27c.
And it wants to establish a ministerial commission to review within six months all laws creating costs for business, and recommend changes it wants pushed through by the end of next year.
This includes reviewing many laws - such as the Resource Management and Health and Safety in Employment acts - which affect small business.
The party wants to:
fusqi Reintroduce competition for workplace accident insurance.
Introduce a regulatory responsibility law which will require every new regulation to pass a test on whether it will do more good than harm.
Change, but not repeal, the Employment Relations Act. National believes employers and staff should be given more scope to arrange mutually acceptable employment conditions.
Investigate compliance exemptions for smaller businesses.
Details of the exemptions are still to come, but National said the policy would involve small and medium enterprises gaining exemptions from "reporting requirements and regulations".
