This week the Victorian Government has announced new support packages delivering over $3 billion in cash grants, tax relief and cashflow support.

There are still more details to come in relation to the packages and we will update you as soon as they are released. 

Here is what we know so far:

Business Support Grants

$822 million for a third round of Business Support Fund Grants to businesses with payrolls of up to $10 million (depending on size).

The amount of grants available from this program range from $10,000 to $20,000 depending on the business’ annual payroll. To be eligible for a grant from this program, applicants must:

• operate a business located within Victoria; and
• participate in the Commonwealth Government’s JobKeeper Payment scheme; and
• employ people and be registered with WorkSafe; and
• have had an annual payroll of less than $10 million in 2019-20; and
• be registered for Goods and Services Tax (GST); and
• hold an Australian Business Number (ABN); and
• be registered with the responsible Federal or State regulator.

An eligible business will receive:

• $10,000 if its annual payroll is less than $650,000
• $15,000 if its annual payroll is between $650,000 and $3 million
• $20,000 if its payroll is between $3 million and $10 million.

A full list of the eligibility criteria for a grant will be published when applications open on Friday 18 September 2020. See Third Round of Business Support Fund Grants.

$100 million Melbourne city recovery fund

In partnership with the Melbourne City Council, grants will be available for businesses to move their activities outdoors to fund COVID-19 safe infrastructure and events. The Melbourne City Recovery Fund includes:

• $30 million for small to medium sized businesses to rapidly adapt their operations to be more COVID Safe and comply with health directions 
• $30 million for COVID Safe events and cultural activities to attract visitors back to the central city 
• $40 million on infrastructure works to support the return of people to the central city through making the city more safe, accessible and sustainable.

$3k grants for sole traders

$3k grants will be available to sole traders who will continue to be affected by restrictions - tenants or licensees in a commercial premises or location who will be closed, heavily restricted, or restricted - under the second step of the recovery roadmap. Sole traders who operate from a home office or are able to reopen on 28 September 2020 are unlikely to qualify.

Approximately 33,000 sole traders are expected to qualify for grants generally in accommodation and tourism, non-permitted retail, media and film production, gyms, creative studios, outdoor entertainment, private museums and galleries, etc.

Creation of a Licenced Venue Fund

Grants of between $10,000 and $30,000 for licenced venues. Liquor license fees for 2021 will be waived. Once again, the details on these initiatives are unclear.
 

Outdoor Eating and Entertainment Package

Grants of $5k will be available to help take the café culture outdoors. The grants will be available to licensed and unlicensed cafés, restaurants, takeaway food businesses, pubs, taverns, bars and clubs with a payroll of less than $3 million.

$29.5k will go to local councils to support the implementation of swift and streamlined permit, enforcement and monitoring processes - $500k for city and $250k for rural councils.

Support for Alpine Resorts

Grants of up to $20,000 to help businesses cover their resort fees.

Payroll tax

Payroll tax will be deferred (not waived) for businesses with payrolls up to $10 million for the full 2020-21 financial year. Originally the deferral applied to the first half of 2020-21.

Businesses with payrolls of $10m or over can defer payroll tax for the first quarter of 2020-21 under previously announced initiatives.
 

Fees and charges

The 50% stamp duty discount for commercial and industrial property across all of regional Victoria brought forward to 1 January 2021 and the Vacant Residential Land Tax waived for properties that are vacant in 2020.

General

Grants of up to $20,000 for chambers of commerce to support members. Plus, funding for a return post COVID-19 including $44 million for business workshops to assist with digital transformation and investment in products such as Shopify and Squareonline.

$8.5m in additional funding for the Click for Vic website promoting Victorian businesses.

We at MGR are here to provide you with professional advice and assistance relating to all COVID-19 economic measures and stimulus support. Our expert team of accountants can help guide you through this process so you are confident you are doing everything right for your business and employees.
 
Call us today on (03) 5443 8888 or email us at mgr@mgr.com.au