Australian and Queensland Governments COVID-19 support and information

PAYG withholding relief E

The Government is now providing up to $100,000 to eligible small and medium sized businesses, and not-for-profits (including charities) that employ people, with a minimum payment of $20,000.

The Boosting Cash Flow for Employers provides eligible employees with tax-free payments to help cover the costs of employee wages.  These payments are equal to 50% of PAYG Withholding withheld from salaries and wages paid between 1 January 2020 to 30 June 2020 up to a maximum of $25,000 (over the 6 months).  
How to receive this grant:
The payment will be delivered by the ATO as a credit in the activity statement from 28 April 2020 upon lodging eligible activity statements. Where the applied credit puts the business into a refund position, the ATO will deliver the refund within 14 days.

For more information visit the Australian Government - Boosting cash flow for employers webpage.

Instant assets write-off threshold

The instant asset write-off threshold has been increased to $150,000 until 30 June 2020.

This means that any asset purchased from 12 March 2020 to 30 June 2020 costing less than $150,000 excluding GST will be fully deductible in the year of purchase.

For more information visit the Australian Government -  Increasing the Instant Asset Write-Off webpage.

Employees of Apprentices and/or Trainees

Eligible employers can apply for a wage subsidy of 50% of the apprentice’s or trainee’s wage for up to 9 months from 1 January 2020 to 30 September 2020. Employers will be reimbursed up to a maximum of $21,000 per apprentice or trainee ($7,000 per quarter).

Please note:

• The apprentice or trainee must have been in training with your business at 1 March 2020
• Employers of any size that re-engage an eligible out-of-trade apprentice or trainee will have access to this subsidy

How to receive this subsidy:

• Register for the subsidy from early April 2020.
• Final claims must be lodged by 31 December 2020
• Please contact Apprenticeship Support for more information on how to apply and eligibility criteria.

For more information visit the Supporting apprentices and trainees webpage.

Deferral of Payroll Tax

The Queensland Government has also released a relief package to defer lodging and paying payroll tax returns until 31 July 2020.

You may be eligible if:

1. You are an employer who pays $6.5 million or less in Australian wages and;
2. Your current turnover, profit, customers, bookings, retail sales or other factors have been directly or indirectly affected by COVID-19.

How to apply:

Please see the following link where, if eligible, you can complete the online payroll tax deferral application form.

Government Benefits (individuals)

You may be eligible to receive a one-off payment of $750.

The payment will be made to all social security, veteran and other income support recipients and eligible concessional card holders. This includes individuals receiving Newstart, families receiving family tax benefits and those who hold commonwealth senior’s health cards.

How to receive this payment:

• This payment will be paid automatically from 31 March 2020 by Services Australia or Department of Veterans’ Affairs.

Please view the following link detailing who is eligible to receive this payment.

• Stimulus payments to households to support growth (PDF)