Our local businesses have experienced a really difficult couple of months. They have been asked to adapt quickly to restrictions, many have faced significant losses of income and now they are working out what the future looks like.
The Government’s economic support package has provided timely support for so many of our businesses and their employees, keeping businesses open and Australians in work.
This package has set the foundation for the recovery. The support available to our local businesses throughout the recovery includes:
JobKeeper: helping businesses significantly impacted by the Coronavirus cover the costs of their employees’ wages, to keep Australians in jobs. A fortnightly payment of $1,500 per eligible employee has been paid to businesses since 4 May 2020. This payment is keeping 3.5 million Australians in work.
Supporting apprentices and trainees: a wage subsidy of 50 per cent of the apprentice or trainee wages is available to employers until 30 September 2020. This measure is supporting around 70,000 small businesses and 117,000 apprentices.
Cash flow boost: available to small and medium businesses and not for profit organisations that employ staff. Tax-free amounts of between $20,000 and $100,000, are being provided to eligible businesses through credits in the activity statement system.
SME guaranteed loan: a guarantee of 50 per cent is being provided by the Government to small and medium business lenders to support new shortterm unsecured loans to SMEs. This is helping small businesses get access to credit quickly and efficiently to meet existing obligations.
Instant asset write-off: the threshold was increased from $30,000 to $150,000 and the timeframe has been extended from 30 June 2020 until 31 December 2020. This allows businesses to invest in assets they need and bring forward tax deductions for eligible expenditure. Businesses can immediately write-off multiple assets provided each costs less than $150,000.
Accelerated depreciation: enabling businesses to deduct 50 per cent of the cost of an eligible asset on installation. This measure will further support business investment and cash flow, lowering taxes paid so they can continue to provide jobs to workers.
Accelerated depreciation will remain in place through to 30 June 2021.
Thank you to all of our local business owners and their employees. What you do to keep our communities up and running doesn’t go unnoticed and we will continue to back you.
For more information on the Federal Government’s economic response to coronavirus and how to access these supports, visit https://treasury.gov.au/coronavirus
