The best ways for your service industry business to benefit from the 2020-21 budget

If you’re a business owner operating within the commercial/service industry, you’re no doubt aware just how hard-hit the industry was as a direct result of COVID-19. Lockdowns and restrictions on the types of business that fell within the ‘essentials’ category meant that your ability to maintain any semblance of consistency in opening times, customer numbers and revenue has been very limited.

However, with the Government’s recent announcement of the 2020-21 Budget, there seems to be a few elements that will directly benefit the commercial/service industry. The following outlines some of the more specific features for commercial and service businesses.

Commercial and service industries’ benefits from the FY20-21 Budget

JobTrainer program

There will be a supporting program implemented for businesses who hire new or recommencing apprentices or trainees whereby the Government will pay up to 50% of the wages for these employees (capped at up to $7,000 per quarter). This not only means businesses will have more potential to afford bringing on apprentices/trainees to assist in their operations as they’ll only have to pay half the employees’ wages, but also a fantastic opportunity for the apprentices/trainees themselves as employment opportunities should drastically increase as a result.

There will be a total of 100,000 of these positions available, and all businesses (regardless of industry, size or location) are eligible. So hairdressing apprenticeships, real estate traineeships and many other commercial/service industry positions all fall within the JobTrainer program.

JobMaker scheme

To help your business get back on its feet and operate with the staffing levels required on our way to COVID-normal (back to business-as-usual), the Government has introduced JobMaker. Under this scheme, businesses will see a cash incentive for hiring employees between the ages of 16 and 35; $200 a week for every new hire aged 16-29 and $100 a week for new hires aged between 30 and 35.

Loss carry-back

If your business (up to $5 billion turnover annually) has seen a loss due to COVID-19 against previous years dating back to FY18-19, the announced loss carry-back scheme will allow you to offset that against tax you paid from profits from FY18-19 to this year. Basically, what that means is you may be eligible to get back some of the tax you paid over the last few years as long as you can show you’ve made a loss this year or up to June 2022, providing some potentially much-needed economic relief.

Immediate write-off of eligible assets

For the 99 per cent of Aussie businesses (that’s around 3.5 million) trading at up to $5 billion, you’re now able to claim an immediate deduction of any new (eligible) asset of any value - this used to be capped at $150,000 which has now been removed. It’s important to note that these assets must be installed/first used prior to June 30,2022.

Businesses whose annual revenue falls between $50 million and $500 million can also claim immediate deductions for secondhand business asset purchases, though this is capped at a maximum of $150,000 per asset (the $150k cap is removed for businesses with up to $50 million revenue).

Further, all businesses with an annual revenue of up to $5 billion may also claim back all costs incurred from improving any existing depreciative business assets.

If you’d like to learn some more about the Government’s 2020-21 Budget, we’ve covered it in a little more detail here.

Take full advantage of the Budget with new commercial vehicle/equipment finance

Are you after a new piece of commercial machinery like hair and beauty salon equipment? Or maybe you’ve been strongly considering a new prestige vehicle to make the perfect impressions on prospective vendors. Whatever the case, if you’re ready to take advantage of the instant asset write-off scheme in this year’s Budget you’re in the right place! From vehicle finance through to commercial equipment finance and so much more, we’re here to organise everything so you can focus on the more important things.

Contact us by either calling 1300 787 288 to chat with us directly or sending us an online enquiry and you’ll hear from us soon.

What puts Stratton Finance ahead of the pack

After working in the finance industry for more than two decades now, we’ve had the privilege of working with a vast number of business owners operating in the commercial and service industries. As such, you can feel confident that the experience we possess means we are able to deliver nothing but the best finance deal to you - every time.

We also know that no two businesses are the same, so don’t have a ‘cookie-cutter’ approach to our customers. We’ll discuss your particular needs with you and provide you with a fully-personalised service, presenting you with finance options that are most suited to the needs of your business specifically.

So get in touch with us today and find out how we can help your business thrive.