Your business & the government’s Coronavirus stimulus package

Your business & the government’s Coronavirus stimulus package

In light of the World Health Organisation declaring the coronavirus a pandemic, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a stimulus package yesterday to assist Australian’s and their businesses. Not all of the finer details have been announced as yet, but below is a summary of the key points which may benefit your business.

 

Cash flow assistance for businesses
  • Employers will receive a payment equal to 50% of taxes withheld from employees’ salary and wages, up to a cap of $25,000 over the 6 month period between 1 January 2020 and 30 June 2020.
  • Eligible businesses that pay salary and wages will receive a minimum payment of $2000, even if they are not required to withhold tax.
  • The payment will be delivered as a credit in the activity statement system from 28 April 2020 (ie. to apply to the March 2020 quarter Business Activity Statement) upon businesses lodging eligible upcoming activity statements. Where this places the business in a refund position, the ATO will deliver the refund within 14 days.

 

Supporting apprentices and trainees
  • The government will offer employers a wage subsidy of 50% of an apprentice’s or trainee’s wage over the 9 month period from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020, capped at $7,000 each quarter per each eligible apprentice or trainee. Businesses with less than 20 full-time staff will be eligible, however employers of any size and Group Training Organisations that re-engage an eligible out-of-trade apprentice or trainee will continue to be eligible for the subsidy.

 

Delivering support for business investment by increasing the instant asset write-off
  • The government is proposing to increase the threshold for the instant asset write off from $30,000 to $150,000 and expand access to businesses with an aggregated annual turnover of up to $500 million (up from $50 million). The increase will only be available for new or second-hand assets purchased from 12 March 2020 to 30 June 2020.

 

Backing business investment 

  • The government is proposing an accelerated deprecation deduction for eligible assets acquired from 12 March 2020 and first used or installed by 30 June 2021. Eligible taxpayers will receive a deduction of 50 per cent of the cost of the eligible asset on installation, with existing depreciation rules applying to the balance.

 

ATO Support to those affected by coronavirus
  • Businesses impacted by the coronavirus are encouraged to get in touch with the ATO to discuss relief options. Options available to assist impacted businesses include:
  • Employers will still need to meet their ongoing super guarantee obligations for their employees.
  • Unlike the bushfire relief measures, which applied automatically to particular geographic areas, assistance measures for those impacted by COVID-19 will not be automatically implemented.
  • Anyone impacted by COVID-19 should contact the ATO to request assistance on its Emergency Support Infoline 1800 806 218.

 

For further reading, you can download the Australian Government’s Economic Response to the Coronavirus Overview here, and we thank CPA Australia for their detailed update on this topic.

 


Given the public awareness of the impact of coronavirus and concerns by the Victorian Department of Health about transmission of the virus, it is important to make sure your business understands the ramifications for your employees and clients. Having a plan of action in place to counter any impacts on your business is vital to ensure you minimise the impacts and can continue to trade. We recommend that you contact Lee and Tegan from HR Dept Ringwood on the below;

Tel: 03 6289 8955     
Email: Lee-Anne.Hunt@hrdept.com.au OR Tegan.Rose@hrdept.com.au
Web: www.hrdept.com.au

If you would like to discuss anything in this email further, don’t hesitate to contact our office on 03 9764 2244.

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