Commissioner calls for lower registry fees for small business

The cost of accessing registries, such as the ASIC business register, should be reduced for small business, NSW Small Business Commissioner Chris Lamont says.

In a submission to the Federal Treasury’s Modernising Registry Fees consultation, Mr Lamont said registry fees were a cost barrier to small businesses, particularly company registration, renewal and late fees.

“While larger businesses may regard registry fees as an incidental expense, in relative terms these can represent a higher cost burden for smaller entities,” Mr Lamont said.

The Commissioner said consideration should be given to scaling fees depending on business size and search fees should be abolished altogether, given the marginal cost of providing the service.

Mr Lamont said as well as being a burden on small business, high fees were also a disincentive to keeping information on the registry up to date, which could limit the registry's usefulness.

For more, read the Commissioner’s submission.