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Please click on this Guide to find out more about the highlights of the recent budget.  Read more

Claim up to $3,000 for fees and charges. If you’re a sole trader, the owner of a small business or a not-for-profit organisation in NSW, you may be eligible for a Small Business Fees and Charges Rebate of $3,000. Funds can be used to offset the costs of eligible NSW and local government fees and charges due and paid from 1 March 2021. These include, but are not limited to: food authority licences…  Read more

Land Tax COVID-19 Relief (1-Jul-2021 to 31-Dec-2021) Applications Closing The deadline for applications for the 2021 land tax COVID-19 relief has been extended. Eligible landlords or their representatives have until 28 February 2022 to complete an application. About the program The NSW Government offers 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.…  Read more

On Sunday 30 January 2022, the NSW Government announced a $1billion business support package including: Up to $5k per week for February 2022 – A lump sum payment of 20% of weekly payroll, up to a maximum of $5,000 per week for the month of February 2022 for eligible businesses (non-employing businesses receive $500 per week). To access the package, businesses must: Have an aggregated annual turnover between $75,000 and $50 million (inclusive)…  Read more

This week the NSW state and Australian Federal Governments announced a combined support package to help households and businesses during the ongoing COVID-19 lockdown. The COVID-19 Disaster Payment will be expanded and increased under this agreement. The payment will increase to $600 if a person has lost 20 or more hours of work a week or $375 if a person has lost between 8 and less than 20 hours of…  Read more

Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has released the 2021 Federal Budget and confirmed Australia’s economy is performing more strongly than was expected six months ago. This article has a summary of the “Winners and Losers” of the Budget and we’ve compiled a recap of the key points below. Get in touch with us if you have any questions. A Quick Overview This budget assumes our international borders won’t reopen until mid-2022. $1.9…  Read more

The Federal Government has introduced its latest wage subsidy scheme – the JobMaker Hiring Credit This Federal Government scheme is aimed at supporting employers to create new jobs within their business and to employ additional people, specifically those aged between 16 and 35 years old. This government support payment is paid to employer businesses and it is not required to be on-paid to the employee.  Please read this informative snapshot.…  Read more

JobKeeper 3.0 The Government announced adjustments to JobKeeper 2.0 to expand the eligibility criteria for JKP (now referred to as ‘JobKeeper 3.0’). The adjustments contained within JobKeeper 3.0 apply nationwide, and the crucial amendments include the following: • Adjustments to employee eligibility – from 3 August 2020, the relevant date of employment (which is used to determine an employee’s eligibility to JKPs) moved from 1 March 2020 to 1 July…  Read more

The JobKeeper scheme has now changed and will now operate in two separate periods: Extension 1: 28 September 2020 to 3 January 2021 Extension 2: 4 January 2021 to 28 March 2021 JobKeeper Extension 1 The tier 1 payment rate of $1,200 per fortnight applies to: Employees who worked for 80 hours or more in the four weeks of pay periods before either 1 March 2020 or 1 July 2020…  Read more

The Victorian and Queensland Governments have announced extensions to COVID-19 Commercial Tenancy Relief Schemes QUEENSLAND The Queensland Government has announced that the moratorium on commercial lease evictions will be extended to 31 December 2020 from 29 September 2020. The Retail Shop Leases and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19 Emergency Response) Regulation 2020 (the Regulation) came into effect on 28 May 2020. The Regulation implements the National Cabinet mandatory code of conduct…  Read more

  Recently the Australian State and Territory Governments have implemented laws to assist in renegotiating the terms of commercial leases where lessees The decision of Sneakerboy v Georges Properties Pty Ltd (No 2) [2020] NSWSC 1141 (Sneakerboy), in the NSW Supreme Court, provides guidance on applying the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2020 (COVID-19 Leasing Regulation) and the National Cabinet Mandatory Code of Conduct (Code) (together, COVID-19 Leasing…  Read more

Many otherwise viable small and medium sized businesses are facing significant challenges due to disrupted cash flow. At the same time, businesses retain fixed obligations including rent, utilities, and employee expenses. The Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme will provide support for these businesses. Under the Scheme, the Government will provide a guarantee of 50 per cent to SME lenders for new unsecured loans to be used for working capital. This will…  Read more

The Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) has announced special arrangements this year for everyone working from home due to the coronavirus crisis. The ATO has announced a temporary simplified short cut method to make it easier for individual taxpayers to claim deductions for additional running expenses incurred (ie. additional heating, cooling and lighting costs), as a result of working from home due to the Coronavirus pandemic. Based on the announcement, the…  Read more

We have reviewed the long-awaited details on the SME Commercial Leasing Principles Code of Conduct which was announced by Prime Minister Scott Morrison to be implemented between landlords and tenants throughout the COVID-19 crisis. The SME Commercial Leasing Principles During COVID-19 appears to be very supportive of tenants (usually the business) throughout the period of the pandemic and includes a reasonable recovery period. The term ‘reasonable recovery period’ is prominent…  Read more

$10,000 grants for eligible NSW businesses New South Wales small businesses will soon be able to receive up to $10,000 to visit their accountant and pay for overheads as the State Government throws out an additional financial lifeline – 3 April 2020. The NSW government has now pledged $750 million to help small businesses across the state deal with the economic impact caused by the coronavirus pandemic. To be eligible,…  Read more

The Department of Treasury refines eligibility for COVID-19 JobKeeper Payment – 2 April 2020. For businesses to qualify for the JobKeeper Payment, they must be able to demonstrate either the 30% or 50% fall in turnover as compared to the year before. This is based on turnover in a one-month or three-month period, depending on the usual activity statement reporting period of the business. The Tax Commissioner will have the…  Read more