Source: AAP Image/Julian Smith
Small businesses sponsoring skilled migrant workers are being subjected to a secret “tax grab” by the Albanese government, the federal opposition says, claiming a levy designed to prop up skills and training programs is instead flowing into consolidated government funds.
The government disputes that argument, saying the levy revenue continues to support skills and training initiatives.
The Skilling Australians Fund (SAF) levy, announced in 2017 by the former Coalition government, was designed to bolster apprenticeship and trainee programs operated by the states and territories through a national partnership.
The SAF operates by charging businesses, including small employers, with a levy each time they recruit a worker through the skilled migration system.
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