On the 29th March the Federal Budget was announced with a few good news items for small to medium businesses, mostly aimed at assisting small businesses with economic growth and employment post pandemic.
A few highlights included;
Skills and Training
Small businesses will now have access to a 20% deduction for the cost of external training courses for their employees.
The Skills and Training Boost will apply to expenditure incurred from budget night until 30 June 2024, providing an overall $550 million in tax relief.
Technology
Small businesses will now be provided with access to a 20% tax deduction (capped at $100,000) for expenses and depreciating assets. This includes purchasing cyber security systems, cloud-based services, accounting or e-invoicing software as well as hardware devices like computers and payment devices. The Technology Boost will run from budget night until 30 June 2023.
Family
Parental Leave has now been combined into 20 weeks for both parents, giving parents the flexibility to decide how best to split the leave. Although the number of weeks haven't been increased, the flexibility is a step in the right direction. No change to superannuation payments though, so superannuation contributions still don't apply to parental leave.
Apprentice and Trainee Scheme
The Boosting Apprentice Wage Scheme has been extended again, this applies to apprentices hired between now and 30 June 2022. Employers are eligible for a rebate of 50% of apprentice wages up to the maximum of $7,000 per quarter for the first 12 months of the apprenticeship. After 12 months of this support employers will be eligible to transition to the time-limited Completing Apprenticeship Commencements (CAC) wage subsidy for the second and third years of an apprenticeship, which is 10% of wages for the second year and for the third year 5% of wages capped at $750 per quarter.
Employers claiming incentives for an apprentice or trainee who commenced before 1 July 2022 will continue to be supported under the Australian Apprenticeships Incentives Program. Further details and conditions are available here .
Also don't forget to be across the superannuation changes that recently came into play, we covered these changes in one of our recent articles.
For more information on how the 2022/23 Federal Budget may affect you and your business, take a look at the short clip from ABC News or the Budget Website for further details.