Study of Business Taxpayers’ Compliance Costs arising
from Small Business CGT Concessions
The Survey
This survey is being conducted by Atax (Australian Taxation Studies Program) at The
University of New South Wales, on behalf of the Board of Taxation. It has been cleared for
release by the Statistical Clearing House (Australian Government Statistical Clearing House
Approval Number XXXXXX). The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is helping by sending
out the survey forms to randomly selected business taxpayers. Please return completed survey
forms to Atax in the provided reply paid envelopes by dd Month 2005.
Scope of the survey
This survey is concerned with business taxpayers who have claimed Small Business Capital
Gains Tax (CGT) Concessions introduced a few years ago. These concessions provide some
relief to small businesses by reducing their CGT (eg, the 15-year exemption, the 50%
reduction, the retirement concession and the roll-over) provided that certain conditions are
met. The aim of the survey is to identify the extra costs your business have incurred (whether
out–of–pocket expenses or because of the time your business have had to spend) to be
allowed to claim the Small Business CGT Concessions.
The following questions ask mainly for information about your business tax affairs in the
2002-03 tax year. You may wish to consult your records if necessary. You will be able to
answer all the questions without needing to consult a tax adviser.
Confidentiality
The mail out will be done by the ATO (neither the Board of Taxation nor Atax has access to
participants’ addresses). All responses received by Atax will be treated as strictly confidential
and the ATO will not have access to individual replies. Please note that all responses are
anonymous unless participants voluntarily identify themselves for a post-survey data
verification exercise. In any case, the confidentiality of your reply will be preserved with only
statistical summaries of the survey data being made available to the Board of Taxation.
Completing the Questionnaire
You can answer most questions by ticking the appropriate boxes provided. Answering the
survey should take about 15 minutes.
Need help?
If you have any questions about this survey, please contact Zaid Crouch at Atax by phone on
02–9385 9341 or by emailing <z.crouch@unsw.edu.au>.
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A.
BACKGROUND DETAILS OF TAXPAYERS
Please tick an appropriate box.
1.
In 2002–03 your business were
a sole trader........................................................... 
a partnership ......................................................... 
a trust .................................................................... 
a superannuation fund........................................... 
a company............................................................. 
a non-profit organisation ...................................... 
other (please state) ................................................ 
2.
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Did this business have any related business or other entities, such as group companies,
service trusts or partnerships, in 2002–03?
Yes ........................................................................ 
No ......................................................................... 
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2
If yes, please remember that this questionnaire is only concerned with the business to which it was
addressed. Therefore, do not include information about related or other business entities.
3.
What was the main activity of the business in 2002–03?
Primary production (eg, agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining) .............................. 
Secondary production (eg, manufacturing, construction, utility supply) ................ 
Services (eg, wholesale & retail trade, transportation, communication, etc) ......... 
Other (please state) .................................................................................................. 
4.
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What was the turnover of your business for the 2002–03 tax year?
$100,000 or less .................................................... 
$100,001 – $500,000 ............................................ 
$500,001 – $1,000,000 ......................................... 
$1,000,001 – $5,000,000 ...................................... 
$5,000,001 or more............................................... 
5.
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Did you business employ an accountant or an account clerk in 2002–03?
No ......................................................................... 
Yes ........................................................................ 
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B. LEARNING COSTS OF SMALL BUSINESS CGT CONCESSIONS
This section is about initial, one-off costs that your business may have incurred as a result
of the Small Business CGT Concessions.
6.
When did you first hear about the Small Business CGT Concessions?
Year ended 30 June 2000 .................................................... 
Year ended 30 June 2001 .................................................... 
Year ended 30 June 2002 .................................................... 
Year ended 30 June 2003 .................................................... 
Year ended 30 June 2004 .................................................... 
Never heard of the Small Business CGT Concessions ........ 
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If you have never heard of the Small Business CGT Concessions, please stop here and return
this survey form in the reply paid envelope provided. Thank you for your assistance.
7.
From what source did your business first hear about the Small Business CGT
Concessions?
tax accountant/adviser .........................................................  1
industry bodies.....................................................................  2
business partner/associate ....................................................  3
spouse/relatives/friends .......................................................  4
ATO/Government ................................................................  5
media ...................................................................................  6
other (please state) ...............................................................  7
_______________________________________________
8.
How many hours did your business spend on learning about the Small Business CGT
Concessions?
This total should include all relevant activities, eg, time spent on travelling to see your
tax adviser or discussing the rules with your tax adviser or reading about the rules
yourself or the time spent by internal accountants. If zero, please write 0, if one and a
half hours please write 1:30 and so on.
______________ hrs
9.
Did you have to pay in order to learn about the Small Business CGT Concessions?
No ........................................................................................ 
Yes ....................................................................................... 
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If you ticked No to Question 9, please go to Question 11.
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10.
How much did you pay to learn about the Small Business CGT Concessions?
If you paid a lump sum for tax advice on this and other issues, please try to allocate the
costs for receiving advice just about the Small Business CGT Concessions. For
example, if you paid $500 to your tax adviser and 20% was for the Small Business CGT
Concessions, please write $100.
$ ______________
11.
Have you had to rearrange your business affairs or otherwise modify how you operate
your business as a result of the introduction of the Small Business CGT Concessions?
No ........................................................................................ 
Yes ....................................................................................... 
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If you ticked No to Question 10, please go to Section C.
12.
Please briefly explain the changes you made.
______________________________________________________________________
13.
Estimate the costs of these changes.
Fees to tax adviser ........................................................................ $ ______________
Other costs (eg, valuation) ........................................................... $ ______________
Amount of time spent...................................................................... ___________ hrs
C. IMPLEMENTING COSTS OF SMALL BUSINESS CGT
CONCESSIONS
This section is about implementing costs that your business may have incurred as a result of
claiming the Small Business CGT Concessions.
14.
Did your business try to make a claim for Small Business CGT Concessions?
No ........................................................................................ 
Yes ....................................................................................... 
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If you ticked No to Question 14, please go to Section D.
15.
In which tax year did your business try to make a claim? for Small Business CGT
Concessions?
2000–01 ............................................................................... 
2001–02 ............................................................................... 
2002–03 ............................................................................... 
2003–04 ............................................................................... 
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16.
Was your business’s Small Business CGT Concessions claim allowed?
No ........................................................................................ 
Yes ....................................................................................... 
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If you ticked Yes to Question 16, please go to Question 18.
17.
Why was your business’ claim not allowed?
__________________________________________________________________________
18.
Under which of the following categories were your business able to claim Small
Business CGT Concessions? It is possible to tick more than one category.
15-year exemption ............................................................... 
50% reduction ...................................................................... 
Retirement concession ......................................................... 
Roll-over .............................................................................. 
19.
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4
Your business may have incurred additional compliance costs as a result of the Small
Business CGT Concessions (whether your business’ claim was allowed or not). Please
estimate your business’ additional compliance costs.
Extra fees to tax adviser.................................................................................. $ ______________
Asset valuation costs .................................................................... $ ______________
Other incidental costs ................................................................... $ ______________
Time spent by owner/partner/director/trustee ......................
______________ hrs
Time spent by internal staff .................................................
______________ hrs
Time spent with tax adviser .................................................
______________ hrs
Time spent with the ATO ....................................................
______________ hrs
D. FURTHER COMMENTS
Please use the scale below to indicate your attitude to the following statements. Please
circle the appropriate number.
strongly disagree
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20.
disagree
neutral/don’t know
2
3
agree
strongly agree
4
5
The Small Business CGT Concessions rules are difficult to understand.
1----------2----------3----------4----------5
21.
The TaxPack’s explanation of the Small Business CGT Concessions is clear.
1----------2----------3----------4----------5
5
22.
My business compliance costs in learning about the Small Business CGT Concessions
are small.
1----------2----------3----------4----------5
23.
If you circled the disagree (2) or strongly disagree (1) option in Question 22, please
estimate your business learning compliance costs.
$ _______________
24.
My business compliance costs in claiming the Small Business CGT Concessions are
significant.
1----------2----------3----------4----------5
25.
If you circled the agree (4) or strongly agree (5) option in Question 24, please
estimate the compliance costs arising from your business’s CGT concession claim.
$ _______________
26.
Are there any costs which your business incurred as a result of the Small Business
CGT Concessions which you do not believe have been incorporated into the above
questions? If so, please indicate their nature and an estimate of the cost.
Nature:___________________________________
27.
$ _______________
Please add any other comments you may have about the Small Business CGT
Concessions, particularly suggestions as to how they can be improved to reduce your
compliance costs.
..........................................................................................................................................................
..........................................................................................................................................................
Please provide an estimate of the time taken to complete this form:
____ hrs ____ mins
To improve the integrity of the data, the research team is proposing to conduct a post-survey data
verification exercise. If you are willing to participate in this data verification exercise, please provide
us with your name and contact telephone number or email address. Providing this information is
entirely voluntary and the information will remain confidential to the University.
Name: ______________________ Tel: (0 ) _______________ Email: ________________________
Thank you very much for completing this form. The data you have provided
will be very useful and will remain strictly confidential.
Please return this form in the enclosed reply-paid envelope by XXX 2005.
Office Use Only
Date received: ____/____/____ Date checked: ____/____/____
Date verified: ____/____/___
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