Tax Alert - New $2,000 grants for Victorian small businesses to access professional advice

Lowe Lippmann Chartered Accountants

New $2,000 grants for Victorian small businesses to access professional advice

The Victorian Government has launched a new Small Business Specialist Advice Pathways Program for small business owners to access financial and legal advice. The program is designed to support businesses that have adapted, pivoted or changed their core business activities in response to disruptive change caused by COVID.


Eligible small businesses can receive a $2,000 grant to cover the costs of engaging a qualified service provider that can help with financial and legal advice.


The program has been allocated $5 million and any grants will be offered on a first come, first served basis, by the earlier of Friday 30 September 2022 or when funds are exhausted.

What are the eligibility criteria?


This program is for Victorian small businesses that employ staff and have been established and operating since at least 1 July 2020.

 

To be eligible for a grant, a business must meet the following requirements:

  • Be a legally structured business registered in Victoria with an Australian Business Number (ABN) and have held that ABN on and from 1 July 2020;
  • Be registered with WorkSafe Victoria; and
  • Employ between 1 and 19 full-time equivalent staff.

 

In addition to meeting the eligibility criteria, any successful applicant must agree to the conditions outlined in the program guidelines (click here).


An applicant will need to provide one of the following forms of identification within their application:

  • Driver licence or learner permit issued by Vic Roads;
  • Australian Passport;
  • Medicare Card; or
  • Foreign passport for those issued with an Australian Visa.

 

The program also has prepared a list of Frequently asked questions (FAQs) – to see click here.

How will the grant funds be distributed?


  1. Consider the eligibility criteria, program guidelines, and FAQs, then confirm your ABN has been registered since 1 July 2020, which can be done with the ABN checker (click here).
  2. Grant funding of $2,000 per ABN is available for eligible expenses on relevant professional advice and services under the program, where the minimum expenditure cost is $2,000 (excluding GST).
  3. The applicant will receive an upfront payment of $1,000 to engage with their preferred qualified service provider.
  4. The applicant will receive a final grant instalment of $1,000 on the satisfactory conclusion of the service activity.  Any approved businesses will be asked to complete a claim form to confirm that the project has concluded and;
  5. Provide a statutory declaration stating that the activity has been completed and the Qualified Service Provider has been paid.
  6. Complete the online claim form by 5pm on 31 January 2023.
  7. Businesses will also be required to respond to a survey six months after they submit their application.

When will applications be assessed?


We understand that after applications are submitted before 30 September 2022, the assessment period for applications is expected to happen during October 2022. Furthermore, notifications are also expected to be made during October 2022.


If an application is missing any information, the applicant will be contacted to provide additional information to complete the process.

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

Tax Alert - New Tax Agent Obligations from 1 July 2025

July 21, 2025
New Tax Agent Obligations from 1 July 2025 From 1 July 2025, “small” firms of tax practitioners (with 100 or less employees) must ensure they are complying with the eight new Code of Professional Conduct obligations from the Tax Practitioners Board ( TPB ). These new Code obligations were introduced by the Government under the Tax Agent Services (Code of Professional Conduct) Determination 2024. The new Code obligations have already commenced for large tax practitioners (with over 100 employees) from 1 January 2025. As tax agents, Lowe Lippmann Chartered Accountants are committed to upholding our professional and regulatory obligations, including with the Tax Agent Services Act 2009 which includes the Code of Professional Conduct as regulated by the TPB.

Audit Lowe Down – Related parties – what should I consider in identifying them?

July 16, 2025
Related parties – what should I consider in identifying them? Related party disclosures is an area that is receiving more scrutiny from stakeholders in both the for-profit and the not-for-profit space. Disclosure of transactions that have occurred with related parties are important since the terms and conditions are often different from those with unrelated parties, in some instances the transactions may have occurred for much lower or even nil consideration. Often one of the biggest challenges for compiling the disclosures is working out who is a related party of an entity. The definition of related parties in AASB 124 Related Party Disclosures is detailed, however we have summarised the definition into various elements below. a. Think about entities who might be related to the reporting entity i.e.: i. through control or significant influence, ii. by the existence of material transactions or iii. dependence on technical information or personnel provided by them. b. Think about people who might be related to the reporting entity, i.e.: i. Key management personnel, including all directors. ii. Close family members of key management personnel (e.g. spouse, child). c. Think about entities that the people identified in b. might control or significant influence, i.e.: i. Family businesses ii. Businesses which a close family member controls (i.e. senior partner in a legal or accounting firm). Once you have identified a complete list of who is potentially a related party, analysis can then be performed to confirm they meet the criteria in AASB 124 and then identify any transactions with these parties. Remember that transactions should be included whether or not a price was charged or whether the transaction was formally documented or not.

Practice Update – July 2025

July 4, 2025
Changes to car thresholds from 1 July The car limit for the 2026 income year is $69,674. This is the highest value that a taxpayer can use to calculate depreciation on a car where they use the car for work or business purposes and they first use or lease the car in the 2026 income year. If a taxpayer is buying a car and the price is more than the car limit, the highest input tax ( GST ) credit they can claim (except in certain circumstances) is one-eleventh of the car limit. For the 2026 income year, the highest input tax credit they can claim is $6,334 (i.e. one-eleventh of $69,674). The luxury car tax ( LCT ) threshold for the 2026 income year is $91,387 for fuel-efficient vehicles, and $80,567 for all other luxury vehicles. Input tax credits need to be claimed within the four-year time limit. A taxpayer cannot claim an input tax credit for luxury car tax when they buy a luxury car, even if they use it for business purposes.
More Posts