Grab your daily dose of all the news that matters to small business owners. Here’s what you need to know on August 29, 2019.
Afterpay shares surge
Big news for the buy now pay later finance option Afterpay, with shares up by almost 10 per cent yesterday. The homegrown fintech now has over 5 .2 million customers on its books and have added 11,000 new customers a day throughout the past two months. There are now 35,000 afterpay merchants in Australia with numbers growing daily. As the trend in BNPL continues, all small business retailers should consider their payment options in order to stay up to date with consumer trends.
Residential construction takes a dive
While Sydney’s property market has seen an unexpected return to form in the past few weeks with massive auction clearances over last weekend, it’s not all good news. Residential construction took a 5 per cent dive in the June quarter. It’s the biggest contraction in the market in 19 years. Pundits are predicting this could cut economic growth by up to 0.5 per cent. However, on the flip side, Lois Christopher from SQM Research believes Sydney and Melbourne property prices have not just bottomed but are expected to rise at a double digit rate next year. Even though both markets are still overvalued.
Small business tax cheats costing billions
Small businesses dodging tax by operating in the black economy are gouging billions of dollars from the economy by claiming dodgy expenses and accepting cash payments. The ATO suggests around $11 billion dollars have been lost due to fraud or errors in reporting. The tax office will be stepping up its surveillance on businesses that operate in a cash environment, scrutinising invoices and using analytic tools to spot deliberate cheats. While the ATO says 90 per cent of businesses do the right thing, in 2015-2016 $7.1 billion was lost to the black economy.
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