Tom Elliott fears big business could shun Victoria and favour other states after the Victorian government announced they’d be hit with a new wage levy.

Businesses with more than $10 million in national wages will pay a new levy through a payroll tax surcharge to fund Victoria’s $3.8 billion investment in mental health services.

The tax will only apply to the wages of Victorian employees.

Tom Elliott said the tax increase was “anti-business” and could hurt the state’s economy.

“If you were thinking about expanding into Victoria then you probably wouldn’t do it now,” he said.

“It’s going to be a disincentive for businesses with large offices around Australia to put more employees in their Victorian office.

“And one of the things we learned last year during the pandemic was that a lot of people in middle management and so forth have found they can work from home, work from anywhere.

“You don’t have to be based in one place.

“It will be cheaper to have those employees in a different state.”

Press PLAY below to hear Tom Elliott’s budget analysis