Blogs
NSW Business Support 2022 - 31st January 2022
NSW Business Support
The NSW Government has announced a $1bn support package for struggling NSW small businesses.
Acknowledging
the difficulty that business operators have faced, the NSW Treasurer Matt Kean has
announced a package of measures to support small businesses impacted by COVID-19
over January and February 2022.
Releasing
the package, the NSW Treasurer said,
"household
balance sheets are strong at the moment, when we get out of this wave, we
expect a snap back and the economy will bounce back better on the other side of
this."
Small Business Support
Package
The NSW
Small Business Support package provides eligible employing businesses with a
lump sum payment of 20% of weekly payroll, up to a maximum of $5,000 per week
for the month of February 2022. The minimum weekly payment for employers is
$750 per week.
Eligible non-employing businesses will receive $500 per week (paid as a lump sum of $2,000).
Eligibility
To access
the package, businesses must:
- Have an aggregated annual turnover between $75,000 and $50 million (inclusive) for the year ended 30 June 2021; and
- Experienced a decline in turnover of at least 40% due to Public Health Orders or the impact of COVID-19 during the month of January 2022 compared to January 2021 or January 2020; and
- Experienced a decline in turnover of 40% or more from 1 to 14 February 2022 compared to the same fortnight in either 2021 or 2020 (you must use the same comparison year utilised in the decline in turnover test for January); and
- Maintain their employee headcount from "the date of the announcement of the scheme" (30 January 2022).
The support
package only covers the month of February 2022. Applications for support are
expected to open mid-February.
Fees and charges rebate
increased and extended to RAT tests
The NSW
small business fees and charges rebate has been increased from $2,000 to
$3,000. In addition, the rebate has been extended to cover up to 50% of the
cost of Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT) purchased by the business to protect staff
and clients. The rebate for RAT tests will be available "by March" and is
unlikely to cover RAT tests purchased prior to the funding coming online to
prevent additional pressures on the RAT test supply chain.
The rebate
is not a cash payment but a digital credit that businesses can draw down on to
offset the cost of eligible NSW and local government fees and charges.
Note that
there is an existing $5,000 small business Alfresco Restart rebate available for small and medium food
and beverage businesses wanting to create or expand their outdoor dining area.
Applications for this rebate are open until the end of April 2022 (or when the allocation
is exhausted).
Eligibility
The fees
and charges rebate is available to sole traders, small business, and not-for
profits that have:
- Total Australian wages below the NSW Government 2020-21 payroll tax threshold ($1.2 million)
- An Australian Business Number (ABN) registered in NSW and/or have business premises physically located and operating in NSW.
Already
registered businesses will receive an automatic top up of $1,000 and newly registering businesses will receive a rebate of $3,000.
Only one rebate is available for each ABN.
Commercial landlord relief
extended
The
protections under the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19)
Regulation 2021
for small retail and commercial tenants will be extended for an additional two
months, until 13 March 2022. This regulation prohibits certain actions by
landlords (such as lock out or eviction) unless they have first renegotiated
rent with eligible tenants and attempted mediation.
The grant
provides up to $3,000 per month (GST inclusive), per property, for eligible
landlords who have provided rental waivers to affected tenants.
Rent waived
must comprise at least half of any rental reduction provided. The remaining
portion may be a rental deferral. The grant does not apply to rent deferrals.
Grants are
paid as a lump sum amount for the rent waived.
NSW Performing Arts
Package extended
The
existing NSW Performing Arts COVID Support Package has been extended until April
2022.
Eligibility
To be
eligible for funding, you must be one of the following:
- An eligible venue (list published by Create NSW)
- A producer of an eligible performance scheduled to perform at one of the eligible venues
A
promoter of an eligible performance scheduled to perform at one of the eligible
venues.
See CreateNSW for more details.
How to Contact Us
We're
available to assist you with the support measures. Here's how you can contact
us:
WARATAH
+61 2 4929 5533 or MAITLAND +61 2
4933 6100
Email: mail@avca.net.au
The material and
contents provided in this publication are informative in nature only. It is not intended to be advice and you
should not act specifically on the basis of this information alone. If expert assistance is required,
professional advice should be obtained.
Updated 31 January 2022