The Western Australian Government has announced a $72 million package for businesses impacted by the Level 2 public health and social measures. The package includes:
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The Small Business Hardship Grants Program
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Payroll tax relief for large hospitality businesses
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COVID-19 Commercial Sporting Franchises Support Program
Small Business Hardship Grant Program
The Small Business Hardship Grants Program will provide tiered grants to businesses that have experienced a 50% or greater reduction in revenue for any two-week consecutive period between 1 January 2022 to 30 April 2022, compared to the equivalent period in 2021. An alternative period in 2021 may be used if the business did not operate at that time, or it provides an inaccurate representation of the business' financial situtation. The grants being provided are as follows:
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$3,000 for sole traders (no employees),
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$7,500 for micro businesses (those with one to five employees),
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$20,000 for small businesses (those with six to 19 employees), and
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$50,000 for medium-sized businesses (those with 20 or more employees and with an annual payroll of up to $4 million).
Business that are eligible to apply and receive funding from other recent business support programs, including the Level 1 COVID-19 Business Assistance Package, are also eligible to receive grants from the Level 2 package.
Payroll Tax Relief
Large hospitality businesses with payrolls between $4 million and $20 million will receive a three month payroll tax waiver if they have experienced at least a 50% drop in turnover over for any four week period between 1 January 2022 and 30 April 2022, comparable to the same period last year.
COVID-19 Commercial Sporting Franchises Support Program
The $2.1 million COVID-19 Commercial Sporting Franchises Support Program includes a $35,000 rebate per game for venue hire costs until 30 June 2022 for commercial sporting franchises, such as the Perth Glory, Perth Wildcats, Perth Lynx and the Western Force.
This program also includes the waiver of public transport charges for home games for these teams in March and a 50% concession on public transport costs for events in April.
More information
We expect that applications to these programs will open later this month. There has also been some uncertainty around the eligibility criteria and we anticipate this will be clarified upon the release of the application forms.
If you require more information or assistance in understanding the COVID-19 Business Assistance Package, contact our team on (08) 9225 5355, or through your local Moore Australia (WA) advisor.