Executive director Adam Zarth said tax reform outlined in the NSW Government's Thodey Review needs to be a high priority in National Cabinet. With so many businesses struggling to survive tax reform needs to come out of the too-hard basket and be addressed now. The chamber has been advocating for tax reform and the job-killing payroll tax is a big issue.

"While it was heartening to have the payroll tax threshold lifted in the 2018 State Budget, transformative tax reform can't happen without a high level of buy-in from the Commonwealth Government," Mr Zarth said.

"Local businesses have consistently told us that they incur around $10,000 a year in tax administration costs associated with payroll tax alone, and looking at national reform options offers a better way forward."

"Some estimates suggest that the cost of stamp duty is as high as 107 cents for every dollar collected, compared to only 8 cents for more efficient taxes. This means that we are unnecessarily destroying jobs, economic opportunity and restricting the natural movement of citizens through our over-reliance on stamp duty.

Mr Zarth said in 2016 the Illawarra chamber's parent organisation Business NSW released the report Taking on Tax: Reforming NSW Property Taxes, which demonstrated the large economy-wide benefits associated with abolishing stamp duty in favour of a land tax.

"Since this time we have consistently been calling for a review of state taxes and we are pleased that this review has outlined sensible ways to do away with stamp duty, NSW's most harmful tax," he said.

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