Significant support has been provided to businesses, including providing grants to the industries hardest hit, cutting taxes and fees and providing additional support to help during the pandemic. This support includes:
- $2.6 billion in grants from the Business Support Fund to support the hardest-hit sectors including hospitality, tourism, accommodation, creative industries, and retail.
- More than $2 billion in tax deferrals, including allowing businesses with payrolls of up to $10 million to defer their 2020-21 payroll tax liabilities for up to 12 months. This represents a $1.7 billion cash flow boost to businesses in 2020-21.
- More than $1.8 billion in relief from taxes and fees, including a full refund and waiver of 2019-20 payroll tax for small and medium businesses, providing cash back in their bank accounts when they needed it most. This includes exempting businesses in Victoria participating in the JobKeeper program from payroll tax and WorkCover premiums on additional wages paid to staff who were stood down or earnt less than the JobKeeper payment.
- Freezing and waiving a number of taxes and charges – 2020 and 2021 liquor licence fees have been waived, while the 2020-21 Fire Services Property Levy was frozen at the 2019-20 revenue target. Increases to the landfill levy have also been deferred.
- The $100 million Sole Trader Support Fund to help sole traders in affected sectors.
- $92 million over the life of the program for carbon farming on private and public land by incentivising the restoration of native vegetation and carbon plantings. This will also deliver jobs and improve productivity for our farmers.
Payroll tax credits
This Budget builds on this record level of support, providing $836 million in New jobs tax credits for small and medium businesses who re-hire staff, restore hours and create new jobs.
This incentive means the more these businesses re-hire staff and employ new workers, the less payroll tax they’ll pay.
This tax relief measure will be available for two years, saving businesses a combined $836 million and helping to support an estimated 9,400 Victorians back into work.
Increasing payroll tax thresholds
The Government will also increase the threshold for paying payroll tax on an annual basis from $40,000 to $100,000, reducing administration costs and providing $309 million of cash flow support to 7,000 businesses.
Solar Homes for small businesses
And for the very first time, small businesses will also be eligible for Solar Homes, with up to 15,000 rebates available to help reduce energy costs.
