Small and medium Queensland businesses impacted by the coronavirus outbreak will be able to defer their payroll tax payment for six months under a new relief measure announced by Deputy Premier and Treasurer Jackie Trad.
“Since the coronavirus first emerged in January we’ve already announced a $27.25 million package of measures to help businesses here on the Gold Coast, in Cairns and across the state. But we’ve known from the start the impact of the virus is evolving, so our measures to address it must evolve as well.
“Small and medium businesses are especially vulnerable to these external shocks, so today we are giving them the option to defer their payroll tax obligations for six months, backdated to when the travel ban started on 1 February.
The new payroll tax initiative enables eligible businesses with an annual Australian wage bill of up to $6.5 million to self-assess whether their economic indicators like turnover, bookings, contracts or profit have been impacted by business conditions associated with coronavirus.
“We’ve waived fees and charges, we’ve put in support systems to small businesses and all businesses so that they can get through this rough patch so that they can keep people in jobs, and we want the Federal Government to come to the party on this.”
OSR will also work with affected businesses to create repayment plans for the deferred tax liabilities.
