Complying to Federal Law: Challenges Faced by Small Business Owners

Apart from dealing with operations, finances, and sales, businesses have to continuously contend with the law. There are many federal regulations in place so that the government can ensure that employees are paid and treated well, that the environment is taken care of, and that taxes are paid properly and on time.

Each year, these regulations may change or revisions are added. With so many laws to follow, small business who do not have enough human capital might struggle just to keep up with them. Listed below are just some of the common struggles small businesses face when it comes to complying with federal laws.

1. Financial Reporting

There are several laws when it comes to financial reporting in Australia. For one, all businesses are required to report their business activities monthly, quarterly, or annually. This is called the Business Activity Statement (BAS). The BAS is adjusted per company and per individual (some individuals are required to do so) and the reporting differs as well. The purpose of the BAS is for companies to report their tax obligations so that the government can check if they are paid or not.

There is also what you call the annual financial report passed by all businesses operating in Australia. These reports are audited by Australia’s financial regulator.

2. Federal Taxes

Connected to the burden of constantly reporting to the government, there are also a bunch of federal taxes that need to be paid. Some small businesses admit that these federal taxes are not the problem itself. What makes it difficult for businesses whether big or small is the amount of workload put in so that these taxes are well documented and reported.

Again, if you are a small business, this can be seen as an additional cost. The work hours dedicated here could be used to focus on other pressing matters, but this is just one of the necessary evils businesses face.

3. Environmental Laws

Both the federal government and the local governments have their own sets of environmental laws. These are in the form of carbon footprint emission, consumption of energy, waste disposal, etc. These laws exist to ensure environmental care and accountability of business owners. However, what makes this difficult for owners is that they could be limiting and the amount of time spent in getting permits is a lot.

4. Consumer Laws

Don’t forget that there are laws in place to ensure the safety and the rights of consumers. These laws focus on the product safety regulations, penalties, damages to be paid, etc. These consumer laws are necessary but they will always be something small businesses would have to be aware of. Because consumers are given rights to sue if ever businesses fail to give high quality and safe products, small businesses have to put a considerable amount of care when it comes to manufacturing.

These are just some of the federal laws that affect small businesses. Because there are so many, small businesses are advised to have legal help from time to time to aid them in complying with the law.