Today the Prime Minister has announced a $17.6 billion economic plan to support the Australian economy as we deal with the impacts of the Coronavirus. The focus of this stimulus package is to help small and medium businesses stay in business and keep Australians in jobs.
Small businesses will benefit from the stimulus with the following measures:
Support for business investments
- Increase to instant asset write-off – The instant asset write-off threshold will increase from $30,000 to $150,000 from today until 30 June 2020
- Accelerated depreciation – Businesses will be able to deduct 50% of the cost of assets purchased that are over the instant asset write-off threshold from today until 30 June 2021, existing depreciation rules will apply to the balance of the asset’s cost
Cash flow assistance
- PAYGW refunds – Businesses that employ staff will receive a 50% refund of their pay as you go withholding (PAYGW) expenses. This will be tax-free income with refunds capped at $25,000 with minimum payments of $2,000 for the March and June 2020 quarters
- Apprentices & trainees – Employers can apply to receive a subsidy of 50% of up to 9 months of apprentice and trainee wages from 1 January to 30 September 2020
Households will also benefit from the stimulus with the following income support recipients set to receive a one-off tax-free payment of $750:
- Pensioners
- Social security
- Veterans
- Youth allowance
- Other income support recipients and eligible concession card holders
These payments will start being made at the end of this month with most expected to be paid by mid-April.
Click on the below link for more information on the Government’s economic response to the Coronavirus.
