NSW COVID-19 Support

“2022 Small Business Support Program

The NSW Government has announced the 2022 Small Business Support Program to help businesses survive the impacts of the Omicron COVID-19 strain.

You may be eligible to apply for a payment under this program if you:

  • have a business or not-for-profit organisation with a turnover between $75,000 and $50 million (inclusive) for the year ended 30 June 2021 or the year ended 30 June 2020; and
  • experienced a decline in turnover of 40% or more due to public health orders or the impacts of Omicron during the month of January 2022, compared to January 2021 or January 2020; and
  • experienced a decline in turnover of 40% or more due to the impacts of Omicron from 1 to 14 February 2022, compared to the same fortnight in February in the comparison year used above; and
  • maintain your employee headcount as of 30 January 2022.

Eligible businesses and not-for-profit organisations will receive 20% of weekly payroll as a lump sum for the month of February, with a minimum payment of $750 per week up to a maximum payment of $5,000 per week.

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

The 2022 Small Business Support Program is for the month of February only.

Applications are expected to open from mid-February.

For more information and eligibility criteria, see the program guidelines.”

Register now for the $5,000 Alfresco Restart Rebate

The NSW Government is offering a rebate of up to $5,000 as part of its $66 million Alfresco Restart Package to help the hospitality, arts and music sectors recover from the impacts of COVID-19 restrictions.

If you operate an eligible small to medium food or beverage business, you can now register for the Alfresco Restart Rebate to create or expand your alfresco dining areas.

The rebate is available to the first 5000 eligible businesses who register through their MyServiceNSW Account on the Service NSW website. It can be used for a range of outdoor dining expenses purchased between 14 October 2021 and 30 April 2022.

Registered businesses must retain receipts for eligible expenses they incur so they can be lodged as a single claim when the rebate opens in late February 2022.

For more information and to register, visit Service NSW or call 13 77 88.

To help raise awareness of the rebate, The NSW Government have produced a communications toolkit with adaptable newsletter and website copy and social content.

Download here.

NSW COVID-19 Hardship Review

‘On 2 September 2021, the NSW government announced that a Hardship Review Panel will be established to assess businesses that do not qualify for COVID-19 business support, on a case-by-case basis.’

Businesses that:

  • do not meet the eligibility criteria for a 2021 COVID-19 business grant, COVID-19 micro business grant or JOBSAVER payment, or
  • have had your applications for COVID-19 business support refused because you cannot demonstrate the required decline in aggregated turnover or do not meet the minimum annual turnover requirements, and
  • are experiencing financial hardship as a result of NSW public health orders.
  • NSW Concierge can help determine if a business is eligible.

Below are links to:

Week Number Week JobSaver Micro Business Grants Commonwealth Disaster Payment
Fortnight 1 (70% Double Vaccination)
1 10 - 16 October 2021 Changed 40% to 30% Payroll No change $1500/fortnight

Autorenewal ceases. Need to reapply each week
No change $900/fortnight (8 hours lost)
No change $1500/fortnight (20 hours lost)

2 17 - 23 October 2021 40% to 30% Payroll No change $1500/fortnight

Autorenewal ceases. Need to reapply each week
No change $900/fortnight (8 hours lost)
No change $1500/fortnight (20 hours lost)

 
Fortnight 2 (80% Double Vaccination)
3 24 - 30 October 2021 Changed to 30% to 15% Payroll Changed to $750/fortnight

Flat rate of $900/fortnight (more than 8 hours lost)
Income support receive $100

4 31 October - 6 November 2021 30% to 15% Payroll $750/fortnight

Reduced to $640/fortnight (more than 8 hours lost)
Income support withdrawn

 
Fortnight 3
5 7 - 13 November 2021 30% to 15% Payroll $750/fortnight Ceased
6 14 - 20 November 2021 30% to 15% Payroll $750/fortnight Ceased
 
Fortnight 4
7 21 - 27 November 2021 30% to 15% Payroll $750/fortnight Ceased
8 28 - 30 November 2021 30% to 15% Payroll
Ceased 30/11/2021

$750/fortnight
Ceased 30/11/2021

Ceased

Cut off Date for Applications
Business Grants – Friday 1 October 2021 at 11:59pm

NSW JOBSAVER RECONFIRMATION REQUIREMENT – Fortnight 30 August to 12 September 2021

The Services NSW webpage which shows reconfirmation for the fortnight 30 August to 12 September 2021 will be removed in the next few days.

If you have reconfirmed eligibility for that fortnight but have since realised that a decline in turnover of 30% or more due to the Public Health Order will not be experienced, you should contact Services NSW on 13 77 88 (from Monday to Friday 7am to 7pm) to advise ineligibility.

You will need to repay overpayments and Services NSW will shortly advise how the repayment is to occur.

Financial Support - Services NSW

Restrictions Resources for Business

Overview of three NSW COVID-19 business support schemes to help practitioners navigate support payments

Businesses in NSW impacted by COVID-19 can access, subject to separate eligibility criteria, the following business support payments:

COVID-19 Business Grants

JobSaver Payment

COVID-19 Micro Business Grant

Note: the above are subject to change and are being updated on a continuous basis

Service NSW is responsible for implementing and administering these business support schemes. Whilst we have details around the eligibility rules for each of the above support measures, unless it is a simple or straight forward client scenario, we urge practitioners to wait for more guidance from Service NSW if in doubt.

The COVID-19 business grant applies for the first 3 weeks of the lockdown, namely 26 June to 17 July 2021. The one-off cash grant ranges from $7,500 to $15,000 depending on the decline in turnover over a minimum 2-week period from 26 June to 17 July 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. Only GST registered entities who have turnover between $75,000 to $50M for the year ended 30 June 2020 are eligible to apply. Sectors such as construction who have faced lockdown restrictions at a later point in the lockdown, may find eligibility for this grant problematic as the decline in turnover test applies over a 2 week period from 26 June to 17 July 2021 compared to the same period in 2019. Southern border businesses have a different comparison period.

The COVID-19 micro-business grant presumably applies to entities who are not registered for GST and have aggregated annual turnover between $30,000 and $75,000 for the period ended 30 June 2020 on the proviso that this represents the primary income source for a person associated with the business. The entitlement is a fortnightly payment of $1,500 to cover business expenses during the lockdown. A turnover decline of 30% or more is required over a 2-week period commencing 26 June 2021 and ending on 30 July 2021, compared to same period in 2019. If the entity has applied for either the COVID-19 business grant or JobSaver payment, they are not eligible for this fortnightly payment. Payments apply from 26 June and can be backdated.

The JobSaver weekly payment kicks in from week 4 (from 18 July onwards) and is meant to supplement support to businesses who received the COVID-19 business grant and continue to be impacted by the COVID-19 restrictions. The fortnightly payment will be equivalent to 40% of the NSW weekly payroll, subject to a minimum amount of $1,500 and a maximum of $100,000. If you are a non-employing business such as a sole trader, you may be entitled to a payment of $1,000 per week.

Reconfirming eligibility for the NSW JobSaver payment and the micro-business grant (MB)
The NSW Government has informed the professional bodies that JobSaver recipients must re-confirm their eligibility for the 13 September to 26 September fortnight (MB Grant fortnight 20 September to 3 October).
If they do not, they won’t be able to re-confirm their eligibility for subsequent fortnights and will not receive payments for those fortnights where the payment period is after September.
Service NSW is asking recipients who are no longer eligible to declare as such by indicating they are no longer eligible or by calling on 137788.
If it is subsequently found that a business received JobSaver or MB when they were not eligible, the NSW Government may recover that overpayment.

Important note

Each of these schemes has strict eligibility criteria that must be met and supported by prescribed documentation. Each scheme allows some limited flexibility for alternative circumstances, but these are at the discretion of Service NSW. More guidance is expected to be released for alternative circumstances that will be allowed.

Warning

Successful applications may be subject to an audit and evidence must be kept for a minimum of 5 years. Tax practitioners are encouraged to seek assurances from their client that they are relying on the information provided when completing the accountants letter and that the client has not done anything deliberately different in the way it usually accounts for its revenue compared to prior periods. The type of assurance practitioners may require will vary depending on the circumstances.

Software packages such as IPA books, MYOB and Xero have provided functionality to assist practitioners in calculating the decline in turnover percentage between two periods.

Support for Individuals and Households