QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator WONG (South Australia—Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:02): Thank you, Senator Cash. Minister Wong well. I make a few points.

First, obviously the ATO is bound very clearly to levy tax in accordance with its statutory framework. The second point I'd make is that the majority of businesses—and I'll just give Senator Cash that figure again, which is 84 per cent of businesses—did not surcharge before these changes. Now, we accept there is a proportion of business that was imposing these charges.

They obviously will gain some benefit from merchant fees being reduced, but there is a need for a proportion of small businesses to utilise credit cards in the context of the tax system. There has been a change on that. We recognise that comes with certain implications, which is why the transition period has been extended.