Month: July 2021

Applications for the Micro Business Grant is now available – https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/2021-covid-19-micro-business-grant.

If you’re a micro-business (small business, sole trader or not-for-profit organisation with aggregated annual turnover between $30,000 and $75,000) impacted by the recent COVID-19 restrictions, you may be eligible to apply for a fortnightly payment of $1,500 to cover business expenses for the duration of the Greater Sydney lockdown.

The 2021 COVID-19 micro-business grant provides cashflow support for micro-businesses in New South Wales who have had their work impacted by the restrictions while continuing to incur business costs.
To be eligible for the grant, you must:

• have an active Australian Business Number (ABN) registered in, or demonstrate your business was primarily operating in, NSW as at 1 June 2021
  have had aggregated annual turnover between $30,000 and $75,000 for the year ended 30 June 2020
• have experienced a decline in turnover of 30% or more due to the public health orders over a minimum 2-week period within the Greater Sydney lockdown (commenced 26 June 2021 and due to end 30 July 2021), compared to the same period in 2019
• have business costs for which no other government support is available
  have not applied for either the 2021 COVID-19 business grant or the JobSaver payment
• maintain your employee headcount as at 13 July 2021 while receiving payments from this grant, if you’re an employing business
• have this business as your primary income source, if you’re a non-employing business such as a sole trader

Please contact our office if an accountant’s letter is required as evidence for the decline in income, or if any further assistance is required.

Applications for JobSaver is now available – https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/jobsaver-payment

JobSaver will provide cash flow support to impacted businesses to help maintain their NSW employee headcount on 13 July 2021.

Eligible businesses and not-for-profit organisations with employees will receive fortnightly payments backdated to cover costs incurred from week 4 of the Greater Sydney lockdown (from 18 July 2021 onwards).

The payment will be equivalent to 40% of the weekly payroll for work performed in NSW:

• minimum payment will be $1,500 per week
• maximum payment will be $10,000 per week.

Weekly payroll should generally be determined by referring to the most recent Business Activity Statement (BAS) provided to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) before 26 June 2021 for the 2020-21 financial year.

If you’re a non-employing business, such as a sole trader, you may be eligible to receive a payment of $1,000 per week.

To be eligible for JobSaver you must:

• have an active Australian Business Number (ABN);
• demonstrate your business was operating in NSW as at 1 June 2021;
• have had a national aggregated annual turnover between $75,000 and $50 million (inclusive) for the year ended 30 June 2020;
• have experienced a decline in turnover of 30% or more due to the PublicHealth Order over a minimum 2-week period within the Greater Sydney lockdown (commenced 26 June 2021 and due to end 30 July 2021) compared to the same period in 2019;
• for employing businesses, maintain your employee headcount on 13 July 2021 while you continue to receive JobSaver payments;
• for non-employing businesses, such as sole traders, show that the business is the primary income source for the associated person. If you have more than one non-employing business, you can only claim payments for one business.

Please contact our office if an accountant’s letter is required as evidence for the decline in income, or if any further assistance is required.

Below is a list of guidelines for 1 July 2021 – 31 December 2021 land tax COVID-19 relief.

About the program

The NSW Government has introduced measures to provide relief to commercial and residential landowners, who provide a reduction in rent to a tenant who is experiencing financial distress as a result of COVID-19.

The 2021 land tax COVID-19 relief is intended to reduce a landowner’s land tax payable for 2021, by up to 100 per cent, for a taxable parcel of land where rent relief has been given to the tenant who occupies that land.

Relief available

Reduction in land tax payable

A landowner can receive a reduction of up to 100 per cent of land tax payable for the 2021 land tax year, subject to the terms of these guidelines.

A landowner providing a reduction in rent to a tenant between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021 can receive a reduction in land tax payable for the relevant parcel of land. The land tax reduction will be the lesser of:

• the amount of rent reduction provided to an eligible tenant for any period between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021, or
• 100 per cent of the land tax attributable to the parcel of land leased to that tenant.

Landowners can be eligible for land tax relief provided all eligibility requirements are met.

If you haven’t completed payment of your land tax for 2021, the relief granted will be used to offset the balance of land tax you have left payable. If your land tax for 2021 has been paid in full, the reduction can be refunded to you.

Eligibility criteria

You’ll be eligible if:

• you’re leasing a parcel of land to:
  • a commercial tenant, who has an annual turnover of up to $50 million and is eligible for the Micro-business COVID-19 Support Grant, the 2021 COVID-19 NSW Business Grant and/or the JobSaver scheme, or
  • a residential tenant ,
• the tenant is in financial distress as a result of COVID-19,
• you reduce the rent of the affected tenant for any period between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021, and
• for 2021, you have land tax attributable to the parcel of land leased to that tenant.

Financial distress

A tenant is considered to be in financial distress where:

• for commercial tenants – there is a reduction in turnover compared to a previous comparable period of 30 per cent (or more),
• for residential tenants – there is a reduction in household income of 25 per cent (or more).

You are responsible for verifying that your tenant is in financial distress.

Rent reduction

To be eligible, the rent reduction must not be required to be paid back at a later date. If a reduction in rent is provided but is required to be paid back at a later date, this is considered to be a deferral of rent and won’t be considered as a reduction of rent under this program.

If you’re not eligible for relief under this program but you’re having difficulty paying, you can still apply for a payment plan to extend your payment dates.

How to apply

Applications for the land tax relief program will be made available via Service NSW shortly.

Please do not hesitate to contact our office if you require assistance with claiming the Land Tax relief once the applications become available.

Below is a list if key measures announced so far in relation to NSW Covid-19 support payments and measures. 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 current as of 13 July.

New business support payments, expanded business grants, payroll support, tax relief:

• 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.
• 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.

Please click on the following link to register and be notified when COVID-19 financial support programs are available – https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/covid-19-business-support-2021

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.

To claim online you need a myGov account linked to a Centrelink online account.

Please contact our office if you require assistance with making an appropriate claim, or to discuss the other measures that may apply to you or your business.