Commissioner welcomes Budget measure to scrap some business registry fees

The NSW Small Business Commissioner Chris Lamont welcomed the announcement in the 2022-23 Federal Budget that ASIC company registration late fees and some search fees will be scrapped or lowered.

In a submission to the Federal Treasury’s Modernising Registry Fees consultation in January, the Commissioner called for registry fees to be lowered and search fees abolished altogether.

The Government confirmed in the Budget that the following changes would be made to fees when a modernised registry system is scheduled to go online in September 2023:

• Removal of the companies annual late review fee
• A reduction in the number of fees paid for ad hoc lodgements under current requirements
• Removal of fees for searches conducted on the new registry website

Mr Lamont said while some may see these as small fees and costs on small business, the decision would help remove the "annoyance cost" faced by small businesses, already challenged by COVID and natural disasters.

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

He argued that 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.

Read the Commissioner’s submission.