NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has announced a rebate for non-payroll tax paying businesses has been extended to $2000 and can now include tolls, while businesses have now been provided a stock guarantee of $20,000 for perishable goods and $10,000 for non-perishable items should a lockdown occur in December or January 2022.
“Business confidence has taken a hit in recent times and we know one of the pressure points for business has been being left with stock they can’t sell while their business is closed,” said Business NSW Chief Executive Daniel Hunter.
“Businesses can now plan and order the stock they the think they’ll need while their business begins to scale up again, with the knowledge the Government has a level of protection in place for them,” Mr Hunter said.
“This confidence will be particularly welcome in regional NSW, where lockdowns have had a dramatic impact on business prosperity – not only have they missed out on local trade but tourists from Sydney who stay and spend money in their town.
“Throughout the pandemic, the Government has worked closely with business on designing support packages that will help soften the blow of the restrictions on business, this is another example of support for business owners to regain their confidence.
“A recent survey of almost 2,000 of our members revealed 53% of business would be closed without the COVID-19 assistance programme from Government, and 40% of businesses reported that due to the COVID-19 assistance programs they will allow business to ‘snap back’.
“There’s lots of optimism around business now that we are officially ‘back to business’ and this is a further boost for business owners to plan the next few months of operations with further support measures in place,” Mr Hunter said.