What you need to know about JobKeeper, Rent Relief and NSW Govt Grants

Posted on April 16, 2020 by admin

 

 

Dear Friend

We hope you are staying safe and well. There have been several developments in the past week with further government support for small and medium businesses.

The three major releases are the legislation of JobKeeper payments, rent relief for small and medium enterprises and NSW government grants of up to $10k. We’ve tried to explain these in plain English below so you know how they might work for your business.

If you have any further questions after reading this email, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

JOB KEEPER EXPLAINED

If you receive the $1,500 Job Keeper payment, this will be banked into your business account and you must pay as follows:

Employee stood down

• The stood down employee must be paid $1500 gross per fortnight
• You are responsible to run this through the payroll and deduct PAYGW
• The employee will receive the net amount after tax per fortnight
• You are not liable for superannuation

Employee earning less than $1500 per fortnight

• If employee is currently earning $1,000 per fortnight, you must increase their gross pay to $1,500
• You must run the payment of $1,500 gross through the payroll and deduct the appropriate PAYGW
• You must pay super on $1,000 gross per fortnight only

 

Employee earning more than $1500 per fortnight

• Employee is paid per usual pay run and $1500 is to help with cashflow

COMMERCIAL RENTAL WAIVERS AND DEFERRALS

Small and medium businesses will now be granted rental waivers and deferrals under a mandatory Code of Conduct.

• Under the Code of Conduct, landlords will be required to reduce rent proportionate to the trading reduction in the tenant’s business caused by the coronavirus pandemic through a combination of waivers of rent and deferrals of rents. Landlords must offer waivers of rent no less than 50 per cent, while the balance must be in the form of a rental deferral.
• The payment of the rental deferrals must be amortised over the balance of the lease term and for a period of no less than 24 months.
• The code will cover commercial tenancies, including retail, office and industrial, and will be eligible for SME (Small and Medium Enterprise) tenants with an annual turnover of up to $50 million.
• Importantly these SME tenants must also qualify for the government’s Job Keeper Program
• Landlords must not terminate the lease or draw on a tenant’s security. Likewise, tenants must honour the lease

 

NSW SMALL BUSINESS GRANTS OF UP TO $10K

The NSW Government has announced small business grants of up to $10,000. I have detailed below the industries applicable and the eligibility criteria, please note the applications open on the 17^th April and will remain open until 1^st June 2020.

Eligible industries are those that have been subject to closure or are highly impacted by NSW Government health directions in relation to COVID-19 and include:

• Retail trade
• Accommodation and food service
• Rental, hiring and real estate services
• Administrative and support services
• Arts and recreation services.

To be eligible, businesses will need to:

• have between 1-19 employees and a turnover of more than $75,000
• a payroll below the NSW Government 2019-20 payroll tax threshold of $900,000
• have an Australian Business Number as at 1 March 2020, be based in NSW and employ staff as at 1 March 2020
• be highly impacted by the Public Health (COVID-19 Restrictions on Gathering and Movement) Order 2020 issued on 30 March 2020
• use the funding for unavoidable business costs such as utilities, overheads, legal costs and financial advice
• provide appropriate documentation upon application.