Thousands of Western Australian small to medium sized businesses will this week begin receiving a one-off grant of $17,500 from the McGowan Government to help them recover from the impacts of COVID-19.
Payroll tax paying businesses with a payroll between $1 million and $4 million will receive a one-off grant. It is expected 7,400 Western Australian businesses will benefit from the grant.
Eligible businesses can be employers, or groups of employers. For a group of employers, a single grant will be payable to the designated group employer.
There is no need to apply for the grant, which will be sent automatically to all qualifying businesses.
Eligibility for employers not registered for payroll tax in 2018-19 will be determined on their reconciled 2019-20 Australian taxable wages, with grants paid later in 2020.
The grant is part of the McGowan Government’s $2.3 billion COVID-19 stimulus and relief package for households and businesses.
Other support provided for small to medium businesses include:
- rent waived for six months for eligible tenants of buildings owned by Government agencies and trading enterprises;
- other payroll tax relief including:
- the payroll tax exemption threshold increase to $1 million brought forward by six months to July 1, 2020;
- payments made under the Commonwealth Government’s JobKeeper scheme exempt from payroll tax; and
- waived payroll tax between March 1 2020 and June 30, 2020 for businesses with Australia wide wages of less than $7.5 million;
- a one-off $2,500 electricity credit available for small businesses and charities that consume less than 50 megawatt hours per annum;
- waiving of licence fees for small businesses. These licence fees relate to trades, commercial fishing, tourism and liquor licence fees for restaurants and bars;
- land tax grants for commercial landlords who reduce rent for small business tenants impacted by COVID-19;
- tourism industry grants comprising of the Tourism Recovery Fund and the Tourism Business Survival Grant;
- wastewater charges waived between May 1, 2020 and August 31, 2020 for businesses with four or more wastewater fixtures; and
- Building Bonus package including:
- $20,000 Building Bonus grant;
- expansion of the existing off-the-plan 75 per cent transfer duty rebate to include multi-tier developments under construction; and
- social housing investment to build, buy, renovate and maintain social housing across the State.
As stated by Finance Minister Ben Wyatt:
“The McGowan Government is committed to supporting WA businesses to weather the impacts of COVID-19.
“We are very aware of the impact that the pandemic has had on local businesses and jobs, and we thank every business for playing their role in helping stop the spread of the virus in WA.
“Western Australia’s strong response to COVID-19 has enabled us to open up businesses, get people back to work and restart our economy much faster than other parts of the country.
“These one-off $17,500 grants can be used by businesses to help them bounce back from the impacts of COVID-19.
“These grants form part of the McGowan Government’s more than $2.3 billion COVID-19 stimulus and relief package and will benefit thousands of Western Australian businesses.”
