Coronavirus: small business offered $10,000
Up to 75,000 small businesses in NSW will be eligible for a $10,000 grant to keep their companies viable.
Up to 75,000 small businesses in NSW will be eligible for a $10,000 grant to keep their companies viable as part of a third wave of stimulus packages being rolled out by the Berejiklian government.
The latest of these packages is worth $750m and is designed to give a shot in the arm to small businesses struggling with cash-flow due to austere social-distancing restrictions imposed on March 30.
NSW has approximately 710,000 small businesses, according to the state’s Department of Industry website, meaning about one in 10 of businesses will be able to access the payments. Conditions attached to the payments will prevent some businesses from applying.
Gyms, cafes, restaurants, corner stores, providers of small accommodation, and others, are the intended recipients of this latest package, said NSW Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, who will announce the scheme on Friday.
The money will be drawn from a Small Business Support Fund, similar to a scheme established for businesses in regional NSW towns affected by the historic summer bushfires.
That fund, established using $42m, helped about 4200 affected small businesses, according to the government data.
“These grants will provide a big boost, and we will make the application process easy to ensure small businesses can receive some cash-flow as soon as possible to meet pressing needs,” said NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian.
Under the scheme, businesses will be able to apply if they have between fewer than 20 employees and a turnover of more than $75,000. They will also need to have a payroll below $900,000, and be able to prove that they were “highly impacted” by Public Health Orders issued on March 30.
Those orders marked the greatest enforcement of social isolation since the COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Australia. They mandated that people stay in their homes unless had an essential purpose to walk outside.
The $10,000 payments are being targeted for spending on “unavoidable business costs”, identified by the government as utilities and overheads, including legal costs and financial advice.
Applications will remain open until June 1.
“This is real, rapid, relief for tens of thousands of businesses and it will help ensure many businesses that are not eligible for payroll tax waivers and deferrals, can live to trade another day,” said Mr Perrottet.
NSW Labor has for weeks been calling on the government to deliver relief for small business owners. Previous stimulus measures — announced on March 17 and March 27 — directed spending towards the health system, construction projects, and provided tax relief, waivers, and other concessions to businesses with large payrolls.
About $5bn has been devoted to tax deferrals for those companies.
NSW Finance Minister Damien Tudehope said the fund would make a substantial, practical difference to the lives of many people.
“This is the largest support package for small businesses in the history of NSW,” he said. “It will make a huge difference to many lives.”
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