What bushfire relief is available for businesses and communities?

By Kirsten Goode on behalf of YBM

The road to recovery. Financial relief is on its way!

Families, businesses and communities have been doing it tough in Australia this summer with record breaking heat waves and devastating bushfires.

Whilst all around the world there has been an outpouring of generosity for those affected by the fires, it’s good to know that both the federal and state governments are also looking at ways to help communities affected by this ongoing bushfire tragedy. 

So what are the bushfire initiatives and how can you access them? With both the federal and state governments chipping in with relief packages it can be confusing to understand what is available and how you claim. Below we seek to answer some of these questions.  

Can I get an extension on my BAS if I’m affected by the bushfires?

One of the initiatives to assist businesses and individuals recovering from the bushfires is the relief of their immediate tax burden. In other words, income tax, Business Activity Statement (BAS), Self Managed Super Funds (SMSF), Fringe Benefit Tax (FBT) and excise return lodgements, and their associated payments will be deferred until 28th May 2020.

What this means is for any small business based in one of the impacted postcodes and whose ABN details are up to date, the ATO will automatically defer activity statements lodgements and payments. I.e. any quarterly or monthly activity statements due during the bushfire emergency in your postcode or due up to the 28th May, will have a deferred lodgement date of the 28th May 2020. 

This is automatic, therefore business owners or their agents don’t need to apply for a deferral, it will simply be applied to those small businesses in affected areas. 

What other tax relief is available to businesses affected by the bushfires?

• If your business or residential address is in one of the impacted postcodes the ATO will automatically prioritise any refund due to you.
• If you are currently subject to a tax or superannuation audit and not identified as a fraud risk, this audit will be temporarily suspended.
• If you are a business needing to replace stock and other losses, you can elect to change your GST reporting and payment to monthly, to get quicker access to net amount refunds. This takes effect from next quarter i.e. 1 April 2020, includes fuel tax credits and must continue for 12 months before you can revert back to quarterly reporting.
• If you are a quarterly pay as you go (PAYG) installments payer you can vary your PAYG installments to nil on your activity statements for the December 2019 quarter by lodging a revised activity statement before you lodge your income tax return for the year.
• You can also vary your PAYG installments in future periods. The ATO won’t apply penalties or charge interest to varied installments for taxpayers within the impacted postcodes in the 2019–20 financial year. 

Employers will still need to meet their super guarantee obligations for their employees, as the ATO is restricted by law and cannot vary the contribution due date or waive the super guarantee charge on late super guarantee payments.

What tax relief can my business get from the NSW government?

• RevenueNSW has recently announced that wages paid or payable to an employee for bushfire-fighting activities or emergency operations are exempt from payroll tax.

Can I get a grant if my business or farm was affected by the bushfires?

After consultation with small business lobbyists and regional business chambers the federal government has announced the following grants for SMEs; 

• Grant funding of up to $50,000 (tax free) under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangement
• Concessional loans of up to $500,000 for eligible businesses that have suffered significant asset loss or loss of revenue. These are interest free for the first two years and low interest for the remainder of the repayment period
• A $75,000 grant to farmers to help them rebuild.

What grants can my business get from the NSW Government?

• A NSW government Bushfire Recovery Grant of up to $50,000 for bushfire affected small businesses and non-profit organisations to help pays costs associated with the clean up.

What other assistance is available for people affected by the bushfires?

The government has also included individuals and their communities in their support initiatives. The initiatives being rolled out are:

Federal government

• Payments of up to $300 per day, with a total cap of $6000 to eligible volunteer firefighters who are self-employed or employed by small and medium businesses, and have lost income.
• $76 million in mental health support for first responders and local communities affected by the fires.
• $76 million for tourism recovery including $10 million for regional tourism events across bushfire affected areas.
• $50 million to support wildlife recovery and habitat restoration.

NSW government

Fines and fees

• Place a hold on all fines and debt for people in a bushfire affected area.
• Extend your payment deadlines.
• Contact RevenueNSW and they can lift driving sanctions.
• Contact Work and Development Order sponsors to place WDOs on hold if necessary.

Taxes, duties and royalties

• An extension of time to pay or to lodge documents, returns or objections.
• A hold on fines and debt.
• Waiver of interest.
• Instalment payment arrangements.
• A refund of motor vehicle duty paid to replace a destroyed vehicle.

They even have a Business Concierge team that can be contacted on 13 77 88. Further information is available at the RevenueNSW.

If you are in one of the impacted postcodes you can find out more about your tax obligations and the grants available at the ATO bushfires relief information 2019-2020 site. You can also contact the ATO on 1800 806 218.

Alternatively, if you would like us to help you find out what applies to your business please contact us at: