SFF released its new zonal tax policy which would exempt all regional businesses from payroll tax and commercial vehicle and property stamp duty for the next five years.

The party’s policy comes seven months after a parliamentary inquiry recommending major cuts to payroll tax and commercial stamp duty to stimulate growth in regional areas.

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Dubbo SFF candidate Lara Quealy said the policy is  "one avenue to save small towns from dying."

“We’ve seen zero action from the NSW Government even after their own report told them how urgent it is to lower taxes in the bush,” Mrs Quealy said.

“Towns in regional NSW are dying. ABS data shows their population declining. Main street businesses are shutting up shop. This needs to happen if we don’t want a whole state moving to Sydney.

NSW Parliament’s Inquiry into Zonal Taxation final report, released in May, recommended small businesses relocating to regional NSW be exempt from payroll tax for a year; and exempt from commercial stamp duty from mid-2019. 

The financial cost of tax exemptions would be outweighed by a boost to regional employment and economic activity the report said.

“It’s clear our policy will pay for itself in time,” Mrs Quealy said.

“At present, regional businesses are paying $40,000 in stamp duty for every million dollars spent on business asset transfers

“We estimate that the overall cost of a payroll tax exemption would be just $120 million a year.

“This would be more than offset by income tax revenue gained when businesses can hire more staff.”

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Dubbo Chamber of Commerce president Matt Wright said the chamber supports any policy that encourages metro business to relocate to regional areas.

"The Shooters plan is bold," he said.

"I'm not sure a five-year exception is necessary, we'd rather see an increase to the threshold of the payroll tax.

"We do see many businesses that are hesitant to employ people because it would push them over the current threshold. 

“So we'd call for a lifting of the threshold to $5 million which would cover a majority of small business in regional areas."

Mr White said the chamber would support dropping commercial vehicle and property stamp duty. 

"We believe exepting business from paying the stamp duty for the purchase of commercial property if they relocate from metro areas to rural areas would encourage them to consider locating their head office to a city like Dubbo," he said.

Mrs Quealy said it would be better if all regional communities had a tax break to stimulate long-term growth.