Construction union dictates attack on tradies

This could perhaps be justified if it helped better profiling of tax cheats - but it won't. For good profiling, payments need to be split into labour and goods. This won't be required. The tax office will have to guess. And abundant data collection already happens. The tax office tracks every self-employed contractor through the Australian Business Number system. It cross references to personal bank account details to target auditing.

The new reporting system is a waste. It will start in July 2012. That's just before the Gillard government prepares for the next election. The system will create anger among contractors and their partners. They'll suddenly realise the time-wasting new nonsense the government has imposed on them. It will add to their anger when they vote.

Why then is the Gillard government doing this? The construction unions exercise huge influence within the government. They hate profit-earning self-employed contractors. Unions want wage-earning unionised employees. This new tax reporting system will make it more complicated to use contractors. This will make unions happy.

It looks like the Gillard government is conducting a back-door attack against self-employed people in an anti-small business crackdown.