Support for Businesses
The Australian Government is supporting Australian businesses to manage cash flow challenges and retain employees. Assistance includes cash flow support to businesses and temporary measures to provide relief for financially distressed businesses.
- Boosting cash flow for employers
- Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
- Increasing the instant asset write-off
- Backing business investment
- Supporting apprentices and trainees
Boosting cash flow for employers
The Government is enhancing the Boosting Cash Flow for Employers measure it announced on 12 March 2020.
The Government is providing up to $100,000 to eligible small and medium-sized businesses and not-for-profits (NFPs) that employ people, with a minimum payment of $20,000.
These payments will help businesses and NFPs with their cash flow so they can keep operating, pay their rent, electricity and other bills and retain staff.
This measure will benefit around 690,000 businesses employing around 7.8 million people, and around 30,000 NFPs (including charities).
Small and medium-sized business entities with aggregated annual turnover under $50 million and that employ workers are eligible. NFPs, including charities, with aggregated annual turnover under $50 million and that employ workers will now also be eligible.
This will support employment at a time where NFPs are facing increasing demand for services. Under the enhanced scheme, employers will receive a payment equal to 100 per cent of their salary and wages withheld (up from 50 per cent), with the maximum payment being increased from $25,000 to $50,000. In addition, the minimum payment is being increased from $2,000 to $10,000.An additional payment is also being introduced in the July – October 2020 period.
Eligible entities will receive an additional payment equal to the total of all of the Boosting Cash Flow for Employers payments they have received. This means that eligible entities will receive at least $20,000 up to a total of $100,000 under both payments.
Fact Sheet
Cash flow assistance for businesses
Temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
The economic impacts of the Coronavirus and health measures to prevent its spread could see many otherwise profitable and viable businesses temporarily face financial distress. It is important that these businesses have a safety net to make sure that when the crisis has passed they can resume normal business operations.
One element of that safety net is to lessen the threat of actions that could unnecessarily push them into insolvency and force the winding up of the business.
The Government is temporarily increasing the threshold at which creditors can issue a statutory demand on a company and the time companies have to respond to statutory demands they receive.
The package also includes temporary relief for directors from any personal liability for trading while insolvent, and provides temporary flexibility in the Corporations Act 2001 to provide temporary and targeted relief from provisions of the Act to deal with unforeseen events that arise as a result of the Coronavirus health crisis.
The ATO will tailor solutions for owners or directors of business that are currently struggling due to the Coronavirus, including temporary reduction of payments or deferrals, or withholding enforcement actions including Director Penalty Notices and wind-ups.
Fact Sheet
Providing temporary relief for financially distressed businesses
Increasing the instant asset write-off
The Government is increasing the instant asset write-off threshold from $30,000 to $150,000 and expanding access to include businesses with aggregated annual turnover of less than $500 million (up from $50 million) until 30 June 2020. In 2017-18 there were more than 360,000 businesses that benefited from the current instant asset write-off, claiming deductions to the value of over $4 billion.
This measure will support over 3.5 million businesses (over 99 per cent of businesses) employing more than 9.7 million employees.
Fact Sheet
Cash flow assistance for businesses
Backing business investment
The Government is introducing a time-limited 15-month investment incentive (through 30 June 2021) to support business investment and economic growth over the short term, by accelerating depreciation deductions.
Businesses with a turnover of less than $500 million will be able to deduct 50 per cent of the cost of an eligible asset on installation, with existing depreciation rules applying to the balance of the asset’s cost. This measure will support business investment and is estimated to lower taxes paid by Australian businesses by $6.7 billion over the next two years. This measure will support over 3.5 million businesses (over 99 per cent of businesses) employing more than 9.7 million employees.
Fact Sheet
Delivering support for business investment
Supporting apprentices and trainees
The Government is supporting small businesses to retain their apprentices and trainees.
Eligible employers can apply for a wage subsidy of 50 per cent of the apprentice’s or trainee’s wage for 9 months from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020.
Where a small business is not able to retain an apprentice, the subsidy will be available to a new employer that employs that apprentice.
Employers will be reimbursed up to a maximum of $21,000 per eligible apprentice or trainee ($7,000 per quarter). Support will also be provided to the National Apprentice Employment Network, the peak national body representing Group Training Organisations, to coordinate the re-employment of displaced apprentices and trainees throughout their network of host employers across Australia.
This measure will support up to 70,000 small businesses, employing around 117,000 apprentices.
Fact Sheet
Cash flow assistance for businesses
