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Business Support Fund - Expansion Program
Anthony Van-Eyk • Aug 20, 2020
Business Support Fund - Expansion Program
For qualifying businesses, the Victorian State Government is offering a grant of $10,000 for employing businesses in Metropolitan Melbourne and the Mitchell Shire (stage 4 restrictions), and $5,000 for employing business elsewhere in regional Victoria (stage 3 restrictions)
This grant is additional to the previous $10,000 grant offered earlier as part of the Covid-19 stimulus package which is now closed.
1 Standard Eligibility Criteria
1.1 To be eligible for the Fund, businesses must:
a) Operate a business located within Victoria; and
b) Be a participant in the Commonwealth Government’s Job Keeper Payment scheme1, and
c) Employ people and be registered with Worksafe on 30 June 2020; and
d) Have an annual payroll of less than $3 million in 2019-20 on an ungrouped basis; and
e) Be registered for Goods and Services Tax (GST) on 30 June 2020; and
f) Hold an Australian Business Number (ABN) and have held that ABN at 30 June 2020; and
g) Be registered with the responsible Federal or State regulator
1.2 Owners of businesses that do not employ people (non-employing businesses) are not eligible for funding through this Fund.
2 Other application information
2.1 Funding will be allocated through a grant process, through which businesses are invited to apply for a grant.
3 Grant funds may be used to assist the business, for example on:
• Meeting business costs, including utilities, salaries or rent;
• Seeking financial, legal or other advice to support business continuity planning;
• Developing the business through marketing and communications activities; or
• Any other supporting activities related to the operation of the business
The program will be open for applications until 11.59 pm on 14 September 2020.
Please contact Cluff Chartered Accountants if you have any queries or require assistance.
The City of Ballarat is offering Ballarat businesses and community groups some financial relief under the “Community and Business Support Package” Business may be eligible to receive a one-off grant of $500 and community groups receive $250. To qualify, the applicant must evidence a turnover reduction of at least 30% over a four-week period since 27 May 2021, have an ABN and a payroll of less than $1m. In addition, the business must operate within the City of Ballarat municipal boundary. Applications are now open and can be accessed here https://www.ballarat.vic.gov.au/supportpackage
Following on from the 2020 financial year when a simplified calculation for working from home expenses could be claimed as a tax deduction, the 2021 financial year will see similar deductions. As a reminder, the taxpayer has three options to claim working from home costs as follows: claim a rate of 80 cents per work hour for all additional running expenses. This is known as the “short cut method”. claim a rate of 52 cents per work hour for heating, cooling, lighting, cleaning, and the decline in value of office furniture, plus calculate the work-related portion of phone and internet expenses, computer consumables, stationery, and the decline in value of a computer, laptop, or similar device. claim the actual work-related portion of all running expenses, which taxpayers need to calculate on a reasonable basis. Expenses include the following: electricity expenses associated with heating, cooling, and lighting the area from which they are working and running items they are using for work. cleaning costs for a dedicated work area. phone and internet expenses. computer consumables (for example, printer paper and ink) and stationery. home office equipment, including computers, printers, phones, furniture, and furnishings; you can claim either the: - full cost of items up to $300 - decline in value (depreciation) for items over $300 It is important that the taxpayer has incurred the expense themselves for work purposes, they have not been reimbursed by their employer and that they are able to substantiate the expenses with a receipt.
The Federal Government is establishing a new Australian Business Registry Services (ABRS) to unify ASIC’s 31 business registers to be administered by the Australian Taxation Office. Director Identification Numbers will be the first new function of the ABRS, and this requirement will be a new requirement for all company directors. The director DIN will be a unique identifier which will identify the director forever, and the director will retain it even if they cease to be a director, change names or move overseas or interstate. The practice if Illegal phoenixing, i.e. moving a company’s business from one entity to another without paying outstanding liabilities, will be a major focus of the new DIN process, and will assist to identify those dishonest directors who are doing the wrong thing. According to the ATO website, directors don’t currently need to do anything, but the ATO said it will soon begin testing the new application process to deliver the registrations. When it’s time to apply, the ATO said directors will be able to use ABRS online services and will sign in using the myGovID app.
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