Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to ask the proponents of the amendments about reducing thresholds for private Australian companies to $50 million. How many additional companies will that involve? What sort of information is hoped will be gained in the difference between $50 million and $100 million—or $200 million even? Could you elaborate on that? I think your amendments indicate that the threshold for others wouldn't change, but I am interested in what additional information you might be able to achieve by going to $50 million.

I appreciate that this would apply in the case of the thresholds set by the government, but in my speech—I'm not sure if you were here or listened—I mentioned that at a Senate inquiry in, I think, 2015, there was some information given about the reasons that some companies didn't show a taxable income. Broadly speaking, they were reinvesting the money in promoting their business and therefore they had no taxable income for that year. On the difference between $50 million and $100 million, I am wondering if the fact that there is reinvestment of some of the profits in that category—in that quantum between $50 million and $100 million—is taken into account or whether that will impact at all on what you hope to achieve from reducing the threshold to $50 million?