Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme extended two more months

Lowe Lippmann Chartered Accountants

Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme extended two more months

The Victorian Government recently announced the Commercial Tenancy Relief Scheme (CTRS) will be extended for another two months ending on 15 March 2022, after the CTRS was originally due to end on 15 January 2022. 


This extension has been made to help support small business owners under financial pressure as Victoria continues to respond to the COVID-19 Omicron variant.


While full details of the new regulations for the extended scheme are yet to be released, however the Victorian Government has confirmed the following details will now apply, including:


  • The extended scheme will apply to tenants with:
  • an annual turnover of $10 million or less (which is down from the original $50 million threshold); and
  • at least a 30% decline in turnover.
  • The extended scheme will have retrospective operation from 16 January 2022, to ensure that tenants who were already receiving rent relief and remain eligible for relief should experience a gap in support.
  • Landlords will be required to keep providing proportional rent relief in line with a reduction in turnover experienced by the tenant, with at least half of that rent relief offered by way of waiver of rent.
  • Eligible commercial landlords who provide rent relief under the extended scheme should continue to be supported through the $20 million Commercial Landlord Hardship Fund.
  • For tenants with existing agreements repayment of deferred rent, the repayment obligation will be paused until 15 March 2022, giving these businesses more time to repay deferred rent because of the extended scheme.
  • The 'freeze' preventing landlords increasing the rent under the lease will continue.
  • The eviction moratorium will also be extended, so eligible tenants cannot be evicted without undertaking mediation through the Victorian Small Business Commission (VSBC). While it still needs to be confirmed, tenants who have not yet sought rent relief may still be entitled to apply for CTRS relief, albeit for a limited time of two months.


Regulations for the Scheme will be made shortly and the VSBC’s website and FAQs will be updated.


Please do not hesitate to contact your Lowe Lippmann Relationship Partner if you wish to discuss any of these matters further.

September 9, 2025
Costs incurred in acquiring / forming a business. Further to the recent blog about capitalisation of costs when acquiring an asset, we have received a number of questions in relation to costs incurred in setting up / purchasing a business. Formation costs on establishing a business: These costs would include: Incorporation fees ASIC registration fees Legal fees Business name registration Pre-operating costs Pre-opening costs. The relevant standard for these costs is AASB 138 Intangible Assets and paragraph 69a confirms that these start-up costs are expensed when incurred. There is no identifiable asset controlled by the entity when the costs are incurred as the entity does not exist. Business acquisition costs These costs would include: Legal and accounting fees Due diligence and valuation costs Stamp duty Advisory or brokerage fees Project management costs related to the acquisition Internal costs allocated to the transaction In contrast to the asset acquisition discussed previously, AASB 3 Business Combinations requires all acquisition costs to be expensed as incurred. This means that they are not included as part of the consideration paid and therefore do not affect calculated goodwill.  Entities purchasing businesses should be aware that these costs are not able to be capitalised as they can often be substantial, and purchasers often do not expect the costs to be taken directly to the income statement
September 8, 2025
ATO to include tax 'debts on hold' in taxpayer account balances From August 2025, the Australian Taxation Office ( ATO ) is progressively including 'debts on hold' in relevant taxpayer ATO account balances. A 'debt on hold' is an outstanding tax debt where the ATO has previously paused debt collection actions. Tax debts will generally be placed on hold where the ATO decides it is not cost effective to collect the debt at the time. The ATO is currently required by law to offset such 'debts on hold' against any refunds or credits the taxpayer is entitled to. The difficulty with these debts is that the ATO has not traditionally recorded them on taxpayer's ATO account balances. Taxpayers with 'debts on hold' of $100 or more will receive (or their tax agent will receive) a letter before it is added to their ATO account balance (which can be viewed in the ATO's online services or the statement of account). Taxpayers with a 'debt on hold' of less than $100 will not receive a letter, but the debt will be included in their ATO account balance. The ATO has advised it will remit the general interest charge ( GIC ) that is applied to 'debts on hold' for periods where they have not been included in account balances. This means that taxpayers have not been charged GIC for this period. The ATO will stop remitting GIC six months from the day the taxpayer's 'debt on hold' is included in their account balance. After this, GIC will start to apply.
August 26, 2025
How do we account for the costs incurred when acquiring an asset? When we acquire an asset such as property, plant and equipment, intangibles or inventory there are often significant other costs incurred as part of the purchase process, including delivery, stamp duty, installation fees. Whether we capitalise these to the value of the asset or expense them as incurred can make a significant difference to an entity’s reported position or performance. Since we have accounting standards for specific assets, the treatment can vary depending on the asset and the relevant standard. A summary of some common expenses and their treatment under four accounting standards has been included below. The four standards considered are: AASB 102 Inventories AASB 116 Property, Plant and Equipment AASB 138 Intangible Assets AASB 140 Investment Property.
More Posts