The Morrison Government continues to back Cairns and Far North Queensland businesses by extending the highly successful instant asset write-off program until June 2023.
The program allows businesses with up to $5 billion in aggregated annual turnover or total income to immediately deduct the full cost of eligible depreciable assets of any value.
This will directly benefit and allow around 9,400 businesses in the Leichhardt electorate to write off the full value of any eligible asset they purchase.
This means a tradie can buy a new ute, a farmer a new harvester and a manufacturer expand their production line.
Federal Leichhardt MP Warren Entsch said this extension is great news for Cairns and Far North Queensland businesses.
“Small and family businesses are the engine room of our local economy,” Mr Entsch said.
“These measures are designed to support businesses sticking with investment they had planned and encourage businesses to bring investment forward to support economic growth.
“I know of countless Cairns and Far North Queensland businesses that have already taken advantage of this program which is great to see because it has injected much-needed cash into our local economy.
“This incentive is a key aspect of our plan to secure Australia’s recovery, create more local jobs, rebuild our economy and set the country up for the future.”
Cairns Chamber of Commerce vice-president Matthew Tickner welcomed the federal budget’s investment incentives for small businesses.
“Small business is the engine of the Australian economy – many small moving parts working together to employ more than half the private work force,” Mr Ticker said.
“The government’s instant asset write-off scheme provides a life raft for small businesses experiencing a sharp drop in revenue giving them the ability to acquire assets to grow their business and contribute to the overall economic bounce back.
“The Cairns Chamber of Commerce along with our membership welcomes the 2021 Budget announcement to extend this scheme.”
Mr Entsch said the temporary loss-carry back scheme, which was announced in last year’s federal budget, would also be extended for another 12 months.
He said this would directly benefit 2,300 businesses in the Leichhardt electorate.
“This measure allows incorporated businesses to utilise tax losses to offset previously taxed profits,” he said.
“It means when eligible companies lodge their 2022-23 tax return, they will be able to offset previously taxed profits from as far back as the 2018-19 income year to receive a tax rebate.”