Tax break for businesses taking hit from coronavirus

Small and medium Queensland businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak will be able to defer their payroll tax payment for six months. The new relief measure was announced yesterday by Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad. The potential financial impact of the outbreak has also prompted financial and consumer law firm MyCRA Lawyers to urge people to talk to their creditors as soon as possible. Commenting on the Queensland news of payroll tax deferrals, MyCRA chief executive officer Graham Doessel said: "it’s important to remember that while it's extra time to pay, it doesn’t take the debt away." “While to begin with it was just tourism operators and seafood exporters, the risk of an extended and prolonged economic downturn is real and affecting the entire economy,” Mr Doessel said. "The problem is even though the tourists and customers may have stopped the bills won’t stop and that can mean defaults on people’s credit files. "That may not sound serious but as soon as you are 14 days or more late in making a loan repayment it will go on your comprehensive credit file for two years. “This will impact your ability to access credit. Get a default or a court judgement on your file and you will be feeling the financial symptoms of coronavirus for five years.” Mr Doessel said people struggling to pay bills should contact their creditors straight away and apply for hardship. Ms Trad said the State Government had already announced a $27.25 million package of measures to help businesses on the Gold Coast, in Cairns and across the state. “But we’ve known from the start the impact of the virus is evolving, so our measures to address it must evolve as well," she said. “Small and medium businesses are especially vulnerable to these external shocks, so today we are giving them the option to defer their payroll tax obligations for six months, backdated to when the travel ban started on 1 February. “This is one of the ideas put to me when I visited Cairns last month to hear directly from tourism operators about the kinds of impacts COVID-19 was having on their businesses, and today the Palaszczuk Government is acting and delivering for those businesses.” The new payroll tax initiative enables eligible businesses with an annual Australian wage bill of up to $6.5 million to self-assess whether their economic indicators like turnover, bookings, contracts or profit have been impacted by business conditions associated with coronavirus. The Office of State Revenue will also work with affected businesses to create repayment plans for the deferred tax liabilities.

Tax break for businesses taking hit from coronavirus

Industry Queensland

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