Summary of the COVID-19 Government Incentives
It can be overwhelming at the moment with all of the different government incentives that have been announced.
What are they?
Which ones am I eligible for?
Who do I contact?
The attached image below shows a brief summary of the different incentives for businesses that have been affected. Hopefully this will help you navigate through them and understand what you may be eligible for.
Below is also a brief outline of the centerlink payments which may help you to determine if you are entitled to any of these payments during this time.
Here’s a brief guide to who gets what.
$1,500 wage subsidy
If you lost your job on or after March 1, and your employer can show it was as a direct result of a business downturn due to coronavirus, then they can access the $1,500 JobKeeper fortnightly payment announced on Monday.
The JobKeeper subsidy, which will be administered through the Australian Taxation Office, not Centrelink, will be paid to your employer, or former employer, not to you.
If the business you worked for/are working for has an annual turnover of less than $1 billion - which is about 95 per cent of all businesses in Australia - the owner must prove they have taken a hit of at least 30 per cent in sales due to the pandemic to access the JobKeeper subsidy.
For businesses over the $1 billion threshold, sales must have dropped by at least 50 per cent.
Who is entitled to it?
You do not have to be a full-time worker for your employer to access the subsidy.
Part-time workers also qualify and will still attract the entire $1,500 subsidy.
Sole traders, such as those working the gig economy and casual workers will also attract the subsidy, but only if your employer can show they have had a working relationship with you for at least the past 12 months.
$750 cash payments
There will be two cash payments of $750 each, the first of these due from March 31.
You will be entitled to both these one-off payments if you fall into the following categories:
You are unemployed and on the JobSeeker allowance (previously called NewStart)
You are a student on Austudy or Abstudy
You are a student/apprentice/young job seeker on Youth Allowance
You qualify for Family Tax Benefit/parenting payment
You are on an age or disability support pension
You receive a carers allowance
You receive a farm household allowance
$550 coronavirus co-payment
This will be paid fortnightly only for the duration of the coronavirus crisis, however long that may be.
Payments are scheduled to begin on April 27.
If you are on the $550 a fortnight JobSeeker allowance you will receive $1,100 a fortnight from April 27.
If you are a student or apprentice and receiving some type of government subsidy, you will get the $550 a fortnight on top of your existing payments.
If you are a casual worker, self-employed, a contract worker or freelancer who has lost your income due to the coronavirus, you will get the $550 a fortnight payment, plus you will be eligible for the $550 a fortnight JobSeeker allowance, which would not have been available to you under the old NewStart allowance.
If you have had to leave your employment to care for someone who has coronavirus you will get the $550 a fortnight payment.
Exceptions
Not everyone who receives some form of financial assistance from the government will get the $550 a fortnight coronavirus payment.
If you are on an age or disability pension, you will continue getting your existing payment, plus the two $750 cash payments but not the $550 fortnightly coronavirus payments.
In addition to this, please contact your bank to discuss any payment arrangements you may need during this time.
Please call us at anytime if we can be of any assistance.
Image Credit : Property Tax Solutions
