COVID-19 Relief Packages
There are many relief packages available for businesses effected by COVID-19. We recommend talking to your Accountant regarding your circumstances. Some things you may be eligible for, include:
- Jobkeeper Payments
- Boosting Cash flow for Employers
- Instant Asset Write Off
- Small Business NSW Grant
JobKeeper Payments
If your business is affected by the coronavirus, you may be eligible to access the JobKeeper payment to assist you to be able to continue paying your employees. Employers can choose to participate in the scheme and then nominate all the employees they are entitled to claim for. An employer can choose not to participate in the JobKeeper payment.
Employers are eligible for the JobKeeper payment if all of the following apply:
- On 1 March 2020, you carried on a business in Australia,
- You employed at least one eligible employee on 1 March 2020 or 1 July 2020, depending on the JobKeeper fortnight being claimed.
- Your eligible employees are currently employed by your business for the fortnights you claim for
- Your business has faced either a
- 30% fall in turnover (for an aggregated turnover of $1 billion or less)
- 50% fall in turnover (for an aggregated turnover of more than $1 billion)
- 15% fall in turnover (for ACNC-registered charities other than universities and schools).
For information on how to enrol, identify and maintain employees, and make a monthly business declaration, see:
- Jobkeeper Guide for Employers who report through Single Touch Payroll
- Jobkeeper Guide for Employers who do not report though Single Touch Payroll
References: https://www.ato.gov.au/General/JobKeeper-Payment/Employers/ and https://www.ato.gov.au/general/jobkeeper-payment/employers/eligible-employers/
Boosting cash flow for employers
The ATO will provide tax-free cash flow boosts of between $20,000 and $100,000 to eligible businesses, delivered through credits in the activity statement system, when eligible businesses lodge their activity statements.
Businesses will be eligible to receive the cash flow boost if:
- you are a small or medium business entity or Not For Profit of equivalent size (that is, an entity with aggregated annual turnover less than $50 million)
- you held an Australian business number (ABN) on 12 March 2020.
- you either
- made payments to employees subject to withholding (even if the amount you were required to withhold was zero), such as
- salary and wages
- director fees
- eligible retirement or termination payments
- compensation payments
- voluntary withholding from payments to contractors
- were required to pay an amount in relation to alienated personal services income you received (even if the amount you were required to pay was zero)
- made payments to employees subject to withholding (even if the amount you were required to withhold was zero), such as
- on or before 12 March 2020, you lodged at least one of
- a 2019 tax return showing that you had an amount included in your assessable income in relation to you carrying on a business
- an activity statement or GST return for any tax period that started after 1 July 2018 and ended before 12 March 2020 showing that you made a taxable, GST-free or input-taxed sale.
More information can be found here.
Increasing the instant asset write-off
From 12 March 2020 until 31 December 2020, the instant asset write-off:
- threshold is $150,000 (up from $30,000)
- eligibility range covers businesses with an aggregated turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million).
Businesses with a turnover of $500 million or more are not eligible to use instant asset write-off.
From 1 January 2021, the instant asset write-off will only be available for small businesses with a turnover of less than $10 million and the threshold will be $1,000.
Small Business COVID Grant NSW
If your small business or not-for-profit organisation has experienced a decline in turnover as a result of COVID-19, you may be eligible for a small business recovery grant of between $500 and $3000.
This grant helps small businesses meet the costs of safely reopening or up-scaling operations. These expenses include, but are not limited to:
- fit-out changes and temporary physical changes (for example, plastic barriers at checkouts)
- staff training and counselling
- business advice and continuity planning
- cleaning products and additional cleaning services
- additional equipment necessary to comply with social distancing or other public health measures
- marketing, communications and advertising
- digital solutions (for example, e-commerce or business websites).
This grant can only be used for purchases of eligible expenses made from 1 July 2020, and only where no other government support is available.
To be eligible for this grant, you must as at 1 March 2020:
- be a small business or a not-for-profit organisation (see guidelines) based in NSW
- have an ABN registered in NSW (make sure all your business details are up to date on the Australian Business Register - this is used to determine eligibility)
- have an annual turnover of more than $75,000 (a Business Activity Statement must be provided as evidence).
Where a small business does not submit a BAS to the Australian Tax Office, and meets all other criteria, the small business should contact Service NSW to discuss further. In these cases, an income tax declaration may be accepted as evidence of an annual turnover of $75,000. - employ less than 20 full-time equivalent (FTE) staff (non-employing businesses can apply)
- be able to report a payroll below the NSW 2019-2020 payroll tax threshold of $900,000
- be in a highly impacted industry by the Public Health (COVID-19 Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order 2020 (see guidelines)
- have experienced at least 30% decline in turnover from March to July 2020 compared to the equivalent period (of at least 2 weeks) in 2019
- have costs associated with safely reopening or up-scaling your business from 1 July 2020.
Note: Applications close 11:59pm Monday 31 August 2020.
References: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-small-business-covid-19-recovery-grant Website PDF