❓ Analysis of a WA parliamentary question regarding the State Government's COVID-19 payroll tax grant, focusing on eligibility criteria, recipients, and total expenditure. The response reveals the number of eligible employers, reasons for ineligibility, and the total cost of the grant.
AnsweredQoN 6414Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the State Government's COVID-19 payroll tax $17,500 one-off grant issued from mid-July 2020 and your response to Question on Notice 6273 outlining that no data was available at the time, and I ask: (a) How many employers, or group of employers, with Australian taxable wages of more than $1 million and less than $4 million were eligible and received the one-off grant; (b) Are there employers, or group of employers, with Australian taxable wages of more than $1 million and less than $4 million that were not eligible and thus did not automatically receive the one-off grant; (c) If yes to (b), how many and what are the reasons for their ineligibility; (d) How many employers, or group of employers, eligible to receive the one-off grant are classified as small businesses according to the criteria defined by the Small Business Development Corporation (SBDC); (e) How many employers, or group of employers, ineligible to receive the one-off grant are classified as small businesses according to the criteria defined by the SBDC; and (f) What is the State Government's total expenditure for the one-off grant?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
3 November 2020
Response time
12 days
The Department of Finance advises:
(a) 5,671 employers, or groups of employers, that paid payroll tax in 2018-19 have received a grant as of 16 September 2020. Eligibility for employers that commenced paying tax in 2019-20 will be determined after the assessment year is reconciled in October 2020.
(b) Yes.
(c) As of 16 September 2020, 94 employers are ineligible to be paid the grant:
A further 140 employers’ entitlement to the grant is under review on the grounds they did not declare wages for the whole of the 2018-19 assessment period or they ceased to pay wages in 2019-20.
(d – e) Payroll taxpayers are only required to lodge information about wages payable. As a result, the Department of Finance does not hold data to determine if a taxpayer is a small business as defined by the Small Business Development Corporation Act 1983 .
(f) $99, 242, 500 as of 16 September 2020.
(a) 5,671 employers, or groups of employers, that paid payroll tax in 2018-19 have received a grant as of 16 September 2020. Eligibility for employers that commenced paying tax in 2019-20 will be determined after the assessment year is reconciled in October 2020.
(b) Yes.
(c) As of 16 September 2020, 94 employers are ineligible to be paid the grant:
A further 140 employers’ entitlement to the grant is under review on the grounds they did not declare wages for the whole of the 2018-19 assessment period or they ceased to pay wages in 2019-20.
(d – e) Payroll taxpayers are only required to lodge information about wages payable. As a result, the Department of Finance does not hold data to determine if a taxpayer is a small business as defined by the Small Business Development Corporation Act 1983 .
(f) $99, 242, 500 as of 16 September 2020.
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