Here’s a list of key measures announced so far:
New business support payments:
- A new direct payment to be made available to entities with an annual turnover between $75,000 and $50 million who can demonstrate a 30 per cent decline in turnover compared with an equivalent two-week period in 2019.
- Eligible entities will be required to maintain their full-time, part-time and long-term casual staffing level as of 13 July.
- Eligible entities, which include not-for-profits, will receive payments of between $1,500 and $10,000 per week based on the level of their payroll.
- For non-employing businesses, such as sole traders, the payment will be set at $1,000 per week.
- The payments will be administered by Service NSW, with registrations of interest to open on Wednesday, 14 July.
Expanded business grants, payroll support, tax relief:
- Eligible businesses with wages below $10 million can claim grants between $7,500 and $15,000 to cover the first three weeks of restrictions.
- A new $1,500 per fortnight payment for micro-businesses with a turnover of between $30,000 and $75,000 which experience a decline in turnover of 30 per cent.
- Payroll tax waivers of 25 per cent for businesses with wages of between $1.2 million and $10 million that have experienced a 30 per cent decline in turnover.
- A capped grant of up to $1,500 for residential landlords who are not liable to pay land tax who reduce rent for tenants estimated at $210 million.
- Land tax relief equal to the value of rent reductions provided by commercial, retail and residential landlords to financially distressed tenants, up to 100 per cent of the 2021 land tax year liability.
- A short-term eviction moratorium for rental arrears where a residential tenant suffers loss of income of 25 per cent due to COVID-19 and meets a range of criteria.
- Deferral of gaming tax assessments for clubs until 21 December 2021 and hotels until 21 January 2022.
Individuals:
- From 18 July, the COVID-19 Disaster Payment will increase from $500 to $600 each week if a person has lost 20 hours or more of work a week, or $325 to $375 each week if a person has lost between 8 and 20 hours of work.
- The payment will be made available to NSW individuals outside Commonwealth-declared hotspots in Sydney if they have lost hours and satisfy the eligibility criteria.
- The payment will be a recurring payment for approved recipients for as long as the Commonwealth-declared hotspot and lockdown restrictions remain in place. This will remove the need for recipients to re-claim for each seven-day period of a lockdown.
The full eligibility criteria for both the business and individual support measures are currently being developed by Service NSW and Services Australia, with the information provided above current as of 13 July.
Jotham Lian
Jotham Lian is the editor of Accountants Daily, the leading source of breaking news, analysis and insight for Australian accounting professionals.
Before joining the team in 2017, Jotham wrote for a range of national mastheads including the Sydney Morning Herald, and Channel NewsAsia.
You can email Jotham at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
