Depending on where you get your business advice you might have been either expecting financial armageddon or no change at all when the new financial year started and the carbon tax came into effect. The responses of two businesses are interesting.
Brumby's bakeries, through a newsletter sent to franchisees, told them to put the price of bread up and
blame the carbon tax. That "foolish and ill-considered" line in the newsletter - according to the parent company of the franchise - has raised the ire of the ACCC.
In contrast, electronics seller Kogan has announced a
discount scheme offering customers a 0.7% discount on goods to compensate them for the increased cost of living that could be attributed to the carbon tax. The discount will only be offered for 14 days though.
As
we've explained, businesses can raise price prices in response to extra costs arising from the carbon tax, but they must take a "good faith, reasonable approach" to calculating this. The ACCC has warned it can "act against misleading claims if a business falsely links a price rise with the carbon price.”
The ACCC has received
several hundred complaints about rises in taxi fares, house pricing, even wedding costs and the price of beer all attributed to the carbon tax. Mind you, when we contacted the ACCC last month they indicated they normally receive about 160,000 complaints a year across all areas of their operations.
If you suspect a business of unreasonably raising prices, there is a
carbon tax complaint form and a phone number you can call to report it: 1300 303 609.
It's interesting to think what this new tax will mean to your business. Will you notice it? Are you seeing it as a threat or an opportunity?
