New support for COVID impacted businesses in NSW

New support for COVID impacted businesses in NSW

A new support package has been announced by the NSW Government in response to struggling small business owners.

 

Small Business Support Package

The NSW Small Business Support package provides eligible employing businesses with a lump sum payment of 20% of weekly payroll, up to a maximum of $5,000 per week for the month of February 2022. The minimum weekly payment is $750 per week.

Eligible non-employing businesses will receive $500 per week (paid as a lump sum of $2,000).

Eligibility

To access the package, businesses must:

  • Have an aggregated annual turnover between $75,000 and $50 million for the year ended 30 June 2021 and
  • Experienced a decline in turnover of at least 40% during the month of January 2022 compared to January 2021 or January 2020 and
  • Experienced a decline in turnover of 40% or more from 1 to 14 February 2022 compared to the same fortnight in either 2021 or 2020 and
  • Maintain their employee headcount from 30 January 2022

The support package covers the month of February 2022. Applications for support are expected to open in mid-February.

 

Fees and Charges Rebate

The NSW small business fees and charges rebate has been increased from $2,000 to $3,000. The rebate has also been extended to cover up to 50% of the cost of Rapid Antigen Tests (RAT). The rebate for RAT tests will be available by March and is unlikely to cover RAT tests purchased prior to the funding coming online. The rebate is digital credit that businesses can draw down on to offset the cost of eligible NSW and local government fees and charges.

Eligibility

The fees and charges rebate is available to sole traders, small businesses, and not-for profits that have:

  • Total Australian wages below 1.2 million
  • An Australian Business Number (ABN) registered in NSW and/or have business premises physically located and operating in NSW.
  • Already registered businesses will receive an automatic top up of $1,000 and newly registering businesses will receive a rebate of $3,000. Only one rebate is available for each ABN.

 

Commercial Landlord Relief

The protections under the Retail and Other Commercial Leases (COVID-19) Regulation 2021 for small retail and commercial tenants will be extended for an additional two months, until 13 March 2022. This regulation prohibits certain actions by landlords (such as lock out or eviction) unless they have first renegotiated rent with eligible tenants and attempted mediation. The grant provides up to $3,000 per month per property, for eligible landlords who have provided rental waivers to affected tenants.

Rent waived must comprise at least half of any rental reduction provided. The remaining portion may be a rental deferral. The grant does not apply to rent deferrals. Grants are paid as a lump sum amount for the rent waived.

 

NSW Performing Arts Package

The existing NSW Performing Arts COVID Support Package has been extended until April 2022.

Eligibility

To be eligible for funding, you must be one of the following:

  • An eligible venue (list published by Create NSW)
  • A producer of an eligible performance scheduled to perform at one of the eligible venues
  • A promoter of an eligible performance scheduled to perform at one of the eligible venues.

 

For more information about how to apply, contact Link Advisors and we can point you in the right direction.