Should small business owners just suck it up when tax changes hit? After listener feedback, Ben McEachen from Hope Mornings and accountant Pete Burrows from Lower Russell and Farr take a fresh look at what working for yourself really costs. Pete shares the tight early years, the unpaid admin nobody sees, and how uncertainty taught him to lean on his faith. You’ll learn how to test a business idea against your current wage, when it’s time to walk away, and why no small business owner should go it alone.

Key Takeaways:

• Absorbing Change Without Support: Small business owners often have to absorb tax and policy changes they didn’t ask for, usually without any help to adapt.
• Benchmark Against Your Wage: A business idea is worth testing against the salary, leave and entitlements it would replace, not just against whether it sounds good.
• The Hidden Workload: Much of running a small business is unpaid work done behind the scenes, from BAS and bookkeeping to paying staff properly.
• Know Your Exit Before You Start: A time frame or dollar target for getting out helps owners avoid throwing good money after bad as industries change.
• Small Business Can Be Lonely: Mentors, networking groups and contemporaries matter, because owners carry pressures that people on wages rarely see.
• Faith in the Lean Seasons: The uncertainty of self-employment can push owners to lean on faith and trust when the bills are due and the money isn’t in yet.

Notable Quotes:

1. “You need to know your way out of a room when you walk into it.” — Pete Burrows
2. “It does make you lean a bit on your faith and just trust in the sense that, you know, I don’t know how I’m gonna pay the bills this month.” — Pete Burrows
3. “The benchmark should be what your job is now.” — Pete Burrows
4. “You as a small business operator, more than me as an employee, might actually be more painfully, sometimes joyfully aware that you’re not in control as much as you’d like to be.” — Ben McEachen
5. “Just like in life, you’d probably need more friends than you think you need in business.” — Pete Burrows

Got a question, comment or personal story to share? Send it through at hopepodcasts.com.au. Ben and Pete will get stuck into it on a future episode.

Pete Burrows is an accountant for small business and individuals with Lower Russell and Farr in Penrith, Western Sydney, Australia.

Ben McEachen hosts Hope Mornings on Hope 103.2FM in Sydney, Australia.

Support the show, a product of Hope Media: https://hope1032.com.au/donate/2211A-pod/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should Australia raise the GST? It has sat at 10% since July 2000, and the Grattan Institute has made the case for 15%. Ben McEachen from Hope Mornings asks accountant Pete Burrows from Lower Russell and Farr what a higher GST would mean at the checkout, why it can hit lower income households hardest, and what loving your neighbour has to do with tax. You'll learn how a rate rise flows through to your shopping, where you'd feel it most, and the questions worth asking before saying yes or no.

Key Takeaways:

• Spend Tax, Not Earn Tax: A GST taxes people when they spend rather than when they earn, which is why a higher rate is usually paired with income tax cuts.
• Smaller Than It Sounds: Because shelf prices already include GST, lifting the rate from 10% to 15% adds a little under 5% to items that already carry it.
• Exemptions Are the Big Shift: Households would feel it most if GST were extended to things that are GST free today, such as fresh food, health and education.
• Who Carries the Cost: The GST is a regressive tax, so lower income households feel price rises more unless welfare or income tax changes offset them.
• A Faith Lens on Tax: Loving your neighbour and caring for the vulnerable turn the GST debate into a question of who can absorb extra costs and whether public money is used well.
• Spending Matters Too: More tax is no excuse for poor spending, yet the states fund hospitals, schools and roads with very few ways of their own to raise money.

Notable Quotes:

1. "The theory with the GST or a consumption tax is you tax people when they spend, not when they earn." — Pete Burrows
2. "Increasing taxes isn't an excuse to have poor spending habits." — Pete Burrows
3. "It's always easy to ask for more tax. It's probably harder to justify what it's spent on." — Pete Burrows
4. "When it comes to talking about GST, Pete, it raises issues around is public money being used well and who can absorb extra costs?" — Ben McEachen
5. "You can't just say no. But if you want to say yes, you need to explain how it's going to be best for the country and everybody in it overall." — Pete Burrows

Got a question, comment or personal story to share? Send it through at hopepodcasts.com.au. Ben and Pete will get stuck into it on a future episode.

Pete Burrows is an accountant for small business and individuals with Lower Russell and Farr in Penrith, Western Sydney, Australia.

Ben McEachen hosts Hope Mornings on Hope 103.2FM in Sydney, Australia.

Support the show, a product of Hope Media: https://hope1032.com.au/donate/2211A-pod/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Card surcharges disappear on 1 October 2026. Tap for a $100 purchase, pay $100. Simple enough, until you ask the question accountant Pete Burrows keeps coming back to: the business still has to pay to process that card, so who ends up wearing the cost? Ben McEachen and Pete sort out what's actually changing on eftpos, Mastercard and Visa, what isn't, and what to watch for at the till.

Key Takeaways:

• From October 1st, Australia will implement a ban on surcharges for payments made with Eftpos, MasterCard, and Visa cards.
• The policy aims to enhance price transparency, allowing consumers to see the full cost of their purchases at the point of sale without additional surcharges.
• Businesses must decide how to handle transaction costs moving forward, possibly through pricing adjustments.
• Surcharges for services like Amex, UnionPay, and PayPal will also be removed, expanding the global shift toward reduced transaction costs.
• The episode highlights the need for consumers and businesses to stay informed about these regulatory changes and their broader financial impact.

Notable Quotes:

• "Technically, that fee is meant to go towards helping the business, but the reality is that business still has costs." - Pete Burrows
• "They’re trying to say, look, it's transparency. When you go and pay for something, that’s the full price." - Ben McEachen
• "Depending on the size of the business too, they may have different costs." - Pete Burrows
• "Most people are using plastic. Really, the question is why should that cost me more every time?" - Pete Burrows
• "Amex has traditionally been one of the higher cost cards…that’s a big win." - Ben McEachen

Resources

The RBA's weblink on removal of credit card surcharges here: RBA

https://www.cardsurcharge.com.au/

Got a question, comment or personal story to share? Send it through at hopepodcasts.com.au. Ben and Pete will get stuck into it on a future episode.

Pete Burrows is an accountant for small business and individuals with Lower Russell and Farr in Penrith, Western Sydney, Australia.

Ben McEachen hosts Hope Mornings on Hope 103.2FM in Sydney, Australia.

Support the show, a product of Hope Media: https://hope1032.com.au/donate/2211A-pod/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.