Dinesh Aggarwal

Australia is on the brink of a small business succession crisis - and the numbers are staggering. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), almost half of Australia’s 2.6 million small and medium-sized businesses are owned by principals over the age of 50. Even more alarming: 22% - more than 500,000 businesses - are owned by people aged 60 or older. Over the next decade, as these Baby Boomer owners retire, hundreds of thousands of profitable, well-run businesses will come up for sale. These businesses employ millions, underpin our local economies, and represent decades of hard work and community contribution. But there’s a problem: the buyers who want to keep these businesses alive can’t access affordable funding. Banks are comfortable lending against bricks-and-mortar - but they’re far less supportive when the asset is a business built on cash flow, relationships, and reputation. In the US, the Small Business Administration (SBA) has been tackling this exact issue for decades. In 2024 alone, SBA-backed loans provided $56 billion in funding to more than 103,000 small businesses. These loans typically: - Cover up to 90% of the purchase price - Have low default rates - Create 3 to 3.5 jobs per $1 million lent within three years It’s a proven model. It works. Australia? We don’t have anything like it. We guarantee home loans for first-home buyers through the Home Guarantee Scheme, but we don’t back the next generation of business owners. If we don’t act, many of these businesses will be sold to offshore buyers, shut down entirely, or consolidated by private equity groups that don’t share the same long-term, local focus. It’s time for the Australian government to step up. We need a business loan guarantee scheme modelled on the SBA.

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Why Labor’s unrealised gains tax proposal is a dangerous move for all Australians. From 10% to 30%: A tripling of the CGT burden. Under the current superannuation tax framework, capital gains on assets held for more than 12 months within a fund — including SMSFs — are effectively taxed at 10%, thanks to the one-third CGT discount applied to the standard 15% super tax rate. Labor’s proposal would scrap that discount and apply a flat 30% tax rate on all earnings — including unrealised capital gains — for fund balances over $3 million. That’s a tripling of the effective capital gains tax burden on superannuation investments, and it applies even when the gain hasn’t been realised, and no income has been received. Under the proposal, SMSF trustees could be forced to sell assets just to pay a tax bill on money they don’t yet have. It’s the kind of policy that punishes responsible, long-term investing and rewards short-term liquidity over smart strategy.

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Accountants and tax agents often face challenges in distinguishing whether expenditure on an income-producing property should be classified as repairs or capital. The tendency is to treat these costs as capital without properly analysing the nature of the work undertaken. This issue frequently arises with major renovations to rented apartments, where obtaining a detailed breakdown of the work and associated costs can be difficult. I agree with Manu Gupta that specialist advice should be sought in complex cases, especially where large sums are involved, as the potential tax savings can be substantial and may more than offset the additional professional fees. https://lnkd.in/gYGGG48t

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We are pleased to announce that we have signed an MoU with the Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Australia, on the sidelines of our participation in the 14th World Chambers Congress. The agreement is designed to enhance cooperation in attracting Australian companies to Dubai and supporting the expansion of our members into Victoria, while advancing collaboration on specialised trade exhibitions, investment missions, and the exchange of commercial and economic data. #DubaiChambers #AmbitionInFocus #14WCC

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