The federal government promises that scrapping the mining and carbon taxes will ease the burden on Australian businesses, but it seems the message might not be cutting through.
A new survey shows the majority of Australia's small to medium sized businesses (SMEs) expect no significant impact from the eventual repeal of the twin Labor imposts.
The quarterly survey of nearly 170 CEOs and business owners nationwide found around a quarter were expecting a significant impact from the taxes going.
But 17 per cent of companies with a turnover of between $21 million and $50 million surveyed by business leadership group The Executive Connection (TEC) expected a very significant impact from the carbon tax repeal.
TEC boss Nikki Potter said the impact of the carbon tax on SMEs was not easy to quantify and consumers should not expect a "huge windfall" in savings.
"The administrative costs and other additional complications associated with scrapping the tax mean that most of our members do not expect to see a significant cost saving in 2014," she said in a statement.
Nearly three-quarters of all small businesses surveyed actually reported an improvement in business conditions in 2013 - more than six months into the carbon price period.
The Abbott government failed to push its carbon tax repeal legislation through the upper house by Christmas, and might have to wait until a less hostile Senate takes over in July 2014.
