By Tina Zawila
In the 2022/23 Federal Budget, the previous Government announced new tax incentives to encourage business owners to invest in the future of their businesses.
The Skills and Training Boost supports eligible businesses to train and upskill their employees. Under this incentive businesses can claim a bonus 20% deduction for the cost of external training courses delivered to employees (in person or online) by registered providers in Australia.
The Technology Investment Boost supports digital adoption by eligible businesses by providing a bonus 20% deduction on their investment in their digital capacity. Expenditure that may be eligible includes items such as portable payment devices, cyber security systems and subscriptions to cloud-based services.
The 20% bonus essentially means that if a business spends $100 on eligible training or technology, they can claim a deduction for $120.
To be eligible for the boosts, the expenditure must have been incurred after 7.30pm 29 March 2022. However, the cut-off date differs for the two boosts with an end date of 30 June 2023 for the Technology Investment Boost and 30 June 2024 for the Skills and Training Boost.
The incentives are restricted to small business entities (SBE), with an aggregated turnover of less than $50million.
Therefore, it’s worthwhile analysing your expenditure in the 2022/23 financial year before lodging your income tax return to identify any eligible spending on Training or Technology. Your accountant and tax agent is the best person to assist you in identifying eligible expenditure for the 20% boost.
Looking forward, whilst the Technology Investment Boost has now ended, it’s not too late to take advantage of the Skills and Training Boost, so there’s never been a better time to upskill and train your employees. Investing in your employees not only benefits your business (via a tax incentive and the improved skills of your employees), but it also generally leads to better attraction and retention of great team members. It's worth noting that the Skills and Training Boost is not available for training non-employees such as business owners (sole-traders, members of partnerships) or independent contractors. Further, in-house or on-the-job training does not qualify for the Boost.
The professional team at UHY Haines Norton CQ takes the time to ask questions and analyse your records to identify all possible deductions, incentives and rebates. Call us today on 4972 1300.
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