THE NEWS WRAP: Business leaders say company tax rate cuts shouldn’t be funded by new levies

Business leaders have hit out at proposals by Prime Minister Julia Gillard that would lower the company tax rate by increasing levies elsewhere on businesses.

At an economic forum in Brisbane, Gillard said the Federal Government was looking at ways businesses could fund the cut the in company tax rate by 1% to 29%, after the reduction was shelved in this year’s budget.

However, business lobby groups insisted that the tax cut should be funded by government spending cuts. 

Europe facing “rolling crises”

Europe is facing a series of “rolling crises and volatility” that political leaders must have the “courage” to tackle, according to federal Treasurer Wayne Swan.

Swan is set to tell a conference in Sydney: “European politicians are still well behind the curve, having failed to take advantage of the months of relative calm.”

New domain name applications revealed

The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, the global body responsible for website domain names, has revealed the full list of submissions for new site suffixes.

Under a new regime, businesses can choose a bespoke suffix instead of the standard .com or .com.au.

Applications received by ICANN include .diy, .boo, .dad, .ninja, .ferrari and .new.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by 77.42 points, or 0.6%, to 12,496.38. The Australian dollar slipped to US99.33 cents.