It was a bright, sunny day in Canberra on Tuesday as Treasurer Jim Chalmers prepared to deliver the federal government’s third budget.
Booking a surplus for the second year running, this year’s budget contains a buffet of measures for SMEs, from another extension of the instant asset write-off, to additional funding for the Small Business Debt Helpline and NewAccess mental health support.
However, there was relatively less on offer than last year, when it appeared the Labor government was clearly listening to the small business community.
Here’s 16 things your business needs to know about the 2024-25 federal budget.
Despite the government having yet to pass legislation for last year’s 12-month extension to the instant asset write-off, this year’s budget once again extends the scheme for another year.
If it goes ahead, the measure will allow Australian businesses with less than $10 million in annual turnover to claim an immediate tax deduction for asset purchases up to the value of $20,000.
It made it into Chalmers’ budget speech, but the promised energy bill relief for small businesses is an extension of the existing Energy Bill Relief Fund.
Eligible small businesses will receive $325 to help pay their energy bills, according to documents accompanying the budget papers.
The government says one million businesses on small customer electricity plans will receive help from the fund in total.
The mental health and financial wellbeing of small business operators is a priority, says the government, and so it is investing an additional $10.8 million to extend both the Small Business Debt Helpline and the NewAccess for Small Business Owners programs.
Both nationwide programs are available for free to small businesses.
Combating scams and fraud is a key focus of this year’s budget, with significant funding going to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) to bolster its defences.
This includes $187 million in new funding to tackle tax and superannuation fraud, including tools to block suspicious activity in real-time and a taskforce to recover lost revenue and step in when scammers try to claim fake refunds.
The ATO will also receive $23.3 million to continue operating the nation’s e-invoicing network, which acts as an important circuit breaker for email-based scams.
The ability of the ATO to manage “peak fraud events” like the massive GST fraud scam that led to Operation Protego has also been strengthened in this year’s budget.
This will be done by changing the mandatory notification period for when the ATO intends to retain a business activity statement (BAS) refund for further investigation, from 14 days to 30 days.
The government will provide $2.6 million over four years, from 2024-25, and $700,000 annually on an ongoing basis, for the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman to help businesses without legal representation access alternative dispute resolution services.
The government has also allocated $3 million over two years to implement its response to the recent review of the Franchising Code of Conduct.
As previously reported by SmartCompany, the review recommended the government form a taskforce to investigate the feasibility of a licensing model for franchising in Australia, as part of an overhaul of the Franchising Code, which is due to expire in April 2025.
The government has also previously indicated it supports a number of recommendations from the recent review of the payment times reporting framework, which are geared towards ensuring that small businesses get paid faster.
The 2024-25 budget provides $25.3 million to implement a range of reforms in this area, including granting the Payment Time Reporting Regulator’s resourcing and its information technology systems.
The government plans to amend the tax law to give the Commissioner of Taxation discretion to not use a taxpayer’s refund to offset old tax debts, in cases where those tax debts were put on hold prior to January 1, 2017.
This appears to be in response to a letter campaign in 2023 that involved the tax office telling small business owners that it may seek to recover ‘on hold’ historical tax debts.
The federal government has recognised SMEs may need help complying with its ongoing industrial reform program and has allocated $20.5 million in this year’s budget for that purpose.
In particular, the funding for the Fair Work Ombudsman will go towards enhancing the Employer Advisory Service and making it permanent, as well as supporting the implementation of the recently passed ‘right to disconnect’.
The funding for the Fair Work Ombudsman will be spread over four years, and include $5.1 million a year in ongoing funding commitments.
As previously reported by SmartCompany, this year’s budget also includes measures to help increase the number of Australian apprentices and tradies.
This includes funding to provide 20,000 new fee-free TAFE, VET, and pre-apprentice courses related to the housing sector, and $1.8 million to help fast-track the assessment of potential migrants, who may have relevant construction-related qualifications.
The government has pledged to expand its ‘new energy’ apprenticeship scheme to encourage greater uptake.
The federal government’s hallmark Future Made in Australia program has multiple facets and we knew about many of them prior to budget night.
However, the plan also includes a $1.7 billion innovation fund that looks set to benefit SMEs and startups.
We had also heard about the government’s plans to spend $288.1 million to bolster its Digital ID system prior to budget night.
According to the government, once the expanded system is operational it will “lower the administrative burden on small businesses by reducing the amount of ID data they need to store and protect for their customers and their employees”.
This year’s federal budget also references $183.8 million for defence industry grants to support SMEs.
This will include a new Defence Industry Development Grant Program, which the government says will “reduce the administration burden on small and medium businesses and provide greater opportunities for tailored financial support”.
Self-employed veterans are also on the government’s radar and will receive $400,000 over three years via an extension of the Supporting Veteran Owned Business grant program.
The program is run through The King’s Trust Australia Enterprise Program.
This is another one we knew about before the budget, but Services Australia will receive $10 million to help small businesses administer the expanded paid parental leave scheme, as part of a deal the government reached with Senators Jacqui Lambie and David Pocock earlier this year.
The federal government also wants to establish a national small business strategy and has decided to re-establish the Small Business Ministers’ Meeting as a forum for federal and state ministers to work together.
The first meeting is slated for June 2024.
“Working together with the states and territories, the government aims to drive a coordinated and cohesive national approach to small business supports and reforms,” said the government.
To see SmartCompany‘s full budget coverage, click here.
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News Editor
Prior to joining SmartCompany, Eloise was news editor at Books+Publishing, the trade press for the Australian book industry. Eloise has degrees in media and communications, marketing and business management, and political science. You can follow her on Twitter at @ellykeating.
