THE NEWS WRAP: Surprise dip in online activity for SMEs

The amount of online activity conducted by small businesses took a surprising fall last month, despite steady growth in the number of SME websites, according to new research.

The MYOB business monitor, which polled more than 1,000 small firms, found that those utilising online transactions, email marketing and social media declined to 24%, down from 31% in March.

The proportion of SMEs with their own websites continues to climb, up from 34% to 38% last month.

Business tax working group slammed

Business groups have reacted angrily to the Federal Government’s working group on company tax, with some threatening to pull their support from the review.

A discussion paper released yesterday floated the idea of axing tax incentives, such as for research and development, in return for a potential reduction in the 30% business tax rate.

“Why would business sign up to any process that helps the government identify and take away important tax arrangements with the outside chance of a company tax cut?” said ACCI economics director Greg Evans, according to The Australian. “It’s like turkeys voting for Christmas.”

Motorola axes 4,000 jobs

Mobile phone maker Motorola Mobility is to slash 4,000 staff, or 20% of its workforce, in an attempt to return to profitability.

The business, which was purchased by Google for $12.5 billion last year, has lost money in 14 of the past 16 quarters.

Overnight

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 0.3% to 13,169.43. The Australian dollar was down to US105.22 cents.