NSW COVID-19 State Tax Concessions

Contents

• Payroll Tax
• Land Tax

Payroll Tax

Businesses who are subject to Payroll Tax can access the following concessions:

• Businesses whose total grouped Australian wages for the 2021/22 financial year are $10 million or less AND have had a decline in turnover of 30% or more will have their annual tax liability reduced by 25%.
• All businesses have the option to defer the payment for the July 2021 and August 2021 return period until 7 October 2021.
• The lodgment date for 2020/21 Annual Reconciliation has been extended to 7 October 2021.
• Payment for the 2020/21 Annual Reconciliation can be either paid in full or businesses can choose to enter in to a 2021 Support Payment Arrangement. This allows businesses the option to include tax payable from the 2020/21 annual reconciliation and any monthly liabilities for the July, August and September 2021 return periods.
  Note: existing 2020 Stimulus Payment Arrangement payments in July 2021 remain unchanged.

The above is based on Revenue NSW’s website as at 19 August 2021.

Land Tax

The 2021 Land Tax COVID-19 (1 July 2021 to 31 December 2021) relief is intended to reduce a landowner’s land tax payable for 2021, by up to 100%, for a taxable parcel of land where rent relief has been given to the tenant who occupies that land. The value of the tax reduction is dependent rent reduction provided to an eligible tenant.

The land tax reduction is calculated as the lesser of:

• the amount of rent reduction provided to an eligible tenant for any period between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021, or
• 100% of the 2021 land tax attributable to the parcel of land leased to that tenant.

Eligibility

You will be eligible to receive reduction of your land tax payable for 2021 if:

• You’re leasing a parcel of land to:
  - a commercial tenant, who has an annual turnover of up to $50 million and is eligible for the Micro-business COVID-19 Support Grant, the 2021 COVID-19 NSW Business Grant and/or the JobSaver scheme, or
  - a residential tenant who has had a reduction in household income of 25 per cent (or more) as a result of COVID-19 and in respect of which you are not claiming the Residential Tenancy Support Payment
• you reduce the rent of the affected tenant for any period between 1 July 2021 and 31 December 2021, and
• for 2021, you have land tax attributable to the parcel of land leased to that tenant.

Before applying, you’re responsible for verifying that your:

• residential tenant is in financial distress, and/or
• commercial tenant is eligible to be approved for the Micro-business COVID-19 Support Grant, the 2021 COVID-19 NSW Business Grant and/or the JobSaver scheme

To be eligible, the rent reduction must not be required to be paid back at a later date. If a reduction in rent is provided but is required to be paid back at a later date, this is considered to be a deferral of rent and won’t be considered as a reduction of rent under this program.

How to Apply

Applications can be made via Service NSW website.

The above is based on Revenue NSW website as at 19 August 2021.

If you require assistance in determining your eligibility, assistance with the application process or an Accountant’s Letter, our team at BLG Business Advisers are Wollongong Accountants and are here to help so please don’t hesitate to reach out to us.

We wish you and your business every success!

*This information is relevant at the time of publishing and is subject to change*