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There are three NSW Covid-19 business support grants. Let’s look at the conditions they all share.
NSW Covid-19 Business Support
All three NSW Covid-19 business support grants share the same 12 core conditions. Let’s look at those conditions more closely with Matthew Addison of The Institute of Certified Bookkeepers (ICB).
Here is what we learned but please listen in as Matthew Addison explains all this much better than we ever could.
To listen while you drive, walk or work, just access the episode through a free podcast app on your mobile phone.
NSW Covid-19 Business Support
Before we look at the 12 core conditions that apply to all three grants, here is a quick overview of what’s on the table for you.
Setting the scene
It is an either-or proposition. You have the Business Grant and JobSaver on one side. You might qualify for both or just one of them.
And then you have the Micro-Business Grant on the other side. And you only qualify for this one if you don’t qualify for the other two.
The disaster payment is completely separate from all this and has nothing to do with the business. The disaster payment goes to the individual employee who lost work.
NSW 2021 COVID-19 Business Grant
Covers 26 June to 17 July 2021 – three-tiered $7,500, $10,500, $15,000 if 30%, 50% or 70% drop in turnover – turnover > $75k – applications close 13 September
NSW 2021 COVID-19 JobSaver
Covers 18 July to end of lockdown 2021 – Pays at least $1,500 per week or 40% of payroll if employing or $1,000 per week if non-employing – 30% drop in turnover – turnover > $75k – applications close 18 October 2021.
NSW 2021 COVID-19 Micro-business Grant
From 26 June to end of lockdown $1,500 per fortnight – 30% drop in turnover – turnover $30k to $75k – applications close 18 October 2021.
Disaster Payments
Goes to employees from Centrelink – separate from business grants – Now $450 and $750 if you lost less or more than 20 hours of work respectively.
1 – Active ABN
“Have an active ABN”
Getting an ABN is often the first thing a new business owner does. So this one should be straight forward. You must have had an ABN by 1 June 2021.
2 – Operating in NSW
“Demonstrate your business was operating in NSW on 1 June 2021”
Just having customers in NSW is not enough. You must have had staff or premises in NSW or an ABN registered in NSW.
If you opened your business after 1 June, you miss out. But maybe you already had some sales before 1 June and hence meet this condition.
3 – Total Australian Wages
“Has total Australian wages of less than $10m”:
You can qualify for any of the three grants whether you are an employing or non-employing business. Just some of the conditions specifically apply to non-employing businesses. And your JobSaver payments are lower when non-employing.
4 – Turnover
“Have had an aggregated annual turnover of $75,000 to $50m for the year ended 30 June 2020”
Whether you use cash or accrual to work this one out depends on your tax return. If you used accrual to prepare your 2020 tax return, that is the method to determine your aggregated annual turnover. If you used cash, use cash.
5 – Business Costs
“Have had business costs for which there is no government support available”:
Easy one to meet. You just need $1 of business expenses without government support.
6 – Turnover Period
“Have experienced …..over a minimum two-week period.”
For the Business Grant, the turnover period is any minimum-14 days between 26 June to 17 July.
JobSaver and the Micro-business cover any minimum-14-days between 26 June to 28 August, so you have a lot more options to find a 30% decline in turnover.
For all three it doesn’t have to be 14 days. That is just the minimum. It can be a lot longer.
For the Business Grant it can go up to 21 days, ie the full period from 26 June to 17 July. For the other two any number of days between 26 June and 28 August.
7 – Comparison Period
“Compared to the same period in 2019, or the same period in 2020, or the 2-week period immediately before the Greater Sydney lockdown commenced (12 June to 25 June 2021):
Choosing the same period in 2019 is the vanilla solution. That will attract the least scrutiny.
You are free to choose 2020 or 12 to 25 June 2021, but have a good reason why you did that. For example because you only started your business in 2020 or 2021.
8 – Decline in Turnover
“Have experienced a decline in turnover of 30 per cent or more”:
Follow your BAS with this one. If your BAS is on a cash basis, use cash to calculate your decline.
You might choose different turnover periods for the busienss grant and JobSaver. So in theory you could fail the Business Grant condition but qualify for JobSaver since your decline happened after 17 July.
9 – Due To Public Health Order
“Decline in turnover …..due to the Public Health Order”
If there are several factors contributing to your decline in turnover and the Public Health Order was just one of them, would you still meet this condition?
We haven’t got a clear answer on this one yet. So need to get back to you.
10 – Maintain HeadCount
“For employing businesses, maintain your employee headcount from 13 July 2021 while receiving payments from this grant”
Maintaining headcount doesn’t really mean much. You can still stand your employees down as long as you will get them back when you open your doors again.
11 – Primary Income Source
“For non-employing businesses, have your primary income source come from this business.”
‘You’ is the business owner, not the income of the household or couple. So a part-time working mum running a small ecommerce business from home could still qualify, even though her husband is the family’s main breadwinner.
12 – Disaster Payment
“Non-employing businesses are not eligible to apply for this grant if individuals associated with and deriving income from the business received a Commonwealth COVID-19 Disaster Payment between 26 June and 17 July.”
This only applies to non-employing businesses. So two groups can’t apply for both business grants AND disaster payments: 1 – Sole traders and 2 – company owners who don’t pay themselves or others a wage.
So this is a quick overview of the 12 conditions that make the core of all three NSW COVID-19 business support payments.
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Disclaimer: Tax Talks does not provide financial or tax advice. All information on Tax Talks is of a general nature only and might no longer be up to date or correct. You should seek professional accredited tax and financial advice when considering whether the information is suitable to your or your client’s circumstances.
Last Updated on 24 August 2021
Tax Talks spoke to Matthew Addison - Executive Director at Institute of Certified Bookkeepers Ltd - for more details.
