We have received a number of enquiries with regard to the proposed government business stimulus package. The announcement was made on the 12th March and below is what we know so far. Please note that at this stage we are focusing on the business stimulus and not the stimulus to households.
Investment incentive
For new assets exceeding $150,000 that are installed ready for use before 30 June 2021, the business will be able to claim 50% of the asset value in the year of acquisition with the balance written off under existing depreciation rules.
This is only available to businesses whose turnover is less than $500 million.
Other Measures
For businesses directly affected by the Coronavirus, they can make application to the ATO for the following:
- Deferring by up to 4 months the payment dates of the amounts due through the business activity statement, income tax assessments, FBT assessments and excise.
- Allow business to move to monthly BAS reporting to access GST refunds quicker.
- Allow business to vary PAYG instalments to nil for the March 2020 quarter. Businesses that do this can also claim a refund of PAYG instalments paid for the September 2019 and December 2019 quarters.
- Remitting interest and penalties imposed post 23 January 2020.
- Low interest payment plans for income tax, GST, FBT and PAYGWH payment obligations.
Payroll tax
The NSW government will waive payroll tax for next 3 months. This could be extended to the end of the year. This is for payrolls up to $10 million annually. We are currently unsure which months this initially relates to.
We will continue to monitor and share new updates as they become available. If you have any queries on the above please contact our office.
To see a comprehensive summary of how the ATO are applying relief due to the Coronavirus, please click on the link below:
https://www.ato.gov.au/Individuals/Dealing-with-disasters/In-detail/Specific-disasters/COVID-19/